Women journalists lack basic facilities in media outlets

Women journalists lack basic facilities in media outlets

Tuesday, 08 March 2011 16:44

ISLAMABAD, March 8:- The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has regretted that female journalists in Pakistan still lack basic facilities and opportunity to serve in the media houses in a conducive environment, and complaints of sexual harassment, discrimination in getting assignments are rampant.
On the eve of the International Women day, the PFUJ said the media owners of Pakistan claim themselves to be champions of rule of law, equity, fairplay, humanity, and that they are highlighting the injustice in society but fact remains that media houses have turned into chambers of torture, cruelty, lawlessness and worst places for female journalists.
“As women in Pakistan's mushrooming electronic media break new barriers, reports of sexual harassment and unfair pay are and profiles is becoming a matter of grave concern,” the PFUJ asserted.
The PFUJ pointed out that no gender policy exists in any media outlet, besides there is absence of policy on human resources, gender, maternity leave in Pakistani media houses and women are scarcely involved in decision-making process and journalists' associations hardly come to any help to women journalists in case of profession-related problems.
Women journalists face discrimination in getting assignments, because of being considered less competent, sexually harassed and often drop out from the profession for lack of proper media policy.
Although women population in Pakistan is said to be over 51 per cent in the in print media, the participation of the females is insignificant while in electronic media ratio of female is hardly one per cent and the same is the case in online and news agencies. In case of print media which is more dominating and in a big number in Pakistan especially in Urdu, the participation of females is almost non-existent in numerical percentage, The PFUJ added.
The PFUJ conceded that although there is no bar on female journalists to get membership of the Union of Journalists, yet females were shy in activity participate in union activities and play their real role at par with the their male colleagues, and there is an urgent need to attract them in the fold of the Unions.
The PFUJ demanded of the federal as well as all the provincial governments to ensure conducive working environment in media houses, formulation of the gender policy with clear cut provisions of wash rooms, maternity leave, and participation of women in administrative posts, decision making and equal opportunity on promotion, wages, as well as assignments.
The PFUJ also demanded that all those who make an attempt or are involved in sexual harassments be brought to justice instead of harassing and blackmailing victim females.

Shamsul Islam Naz

Watta satta: Father weds off 5-year-old daughter to get a bride !!

Watta satta: Father weds off 5-year-old daughter to get a bride !!

Watta satta: Father weds off 5-year-old daughter to get a bride

By Shamsul Islam
Published: August 1, 2011


The father intended to contract a marriage with local resident Irfan’s sister. In exchange, Akram agreed to marry his 5 year old daughter Sana with Irfan, 25.

FAISALABAD: Bhowana Police arrested a man for marrying his five-year-old daughter in a watta satta ceremony on Sunday.

According to police officials, a team raided a village in Deputy Wala Chak-466GB after a wedding ceremony had been contracted and the guests were having food. Guests at the function told police officials that Chiniot resident Akram’s wife had died three years ago and he intended to contract a marriage with local resident Irfan’s sister. In exchange, Akram agreed to marry his daughter Sana with Irfan, 25.
On Sunday, Irfan arrived in Deputy Wala with wedding guests.
The couples were having food when Bhowana police raided the scene following the nuptials. Police arrested the bride’s father, grandfather and the nikah khawan Muhammmad Nawaz. Police officials also apprehended seven wedding guests and took Sana Shehzadi into custody.
“Both the bridegroom and the girl’s father ran away when they saw the police but Akram was caught,” said wedding guest Rana Hameed. “Akram wanted to marry Irfan’s sister Humera, 21, and he offered up his daughter instead.
The child didn’t seem to have any clue as to what was going on,” said wedding guest Shehnaz Bibi.
Muhammad Nawaz, a registered nikah khawan of the locality solemnised the nikah of Iram Shehzadi with Irfran in the presence of more than three dozen witnesses, including the girl’s grandparents. After being arrested Nawaz said that he had not done anything wrong. “This marriage is allowed in Islam and it is not against the law. Her father is her wali and he has the right to contract the union on her behalf,” Nawaz told reporters. “The child had no idea what was happening. She didn’t know she had gotten married or that her father was also getting married to her new sister-in-law,” said a wedding guest Madeeha Bano.
Police officials rounded up a total of ten people at the function including Sattan Bibi – Irum’s grandmother. Among others who were arrested include Nusrat Ali, Muhammad Raiz, Nikah Registrar Maulvi Muhammad Nawaz, Ramzan and Aslam etc.
The police have also taken Sana Shehzadi into custody and said that she would be presented before the area magistrate within the next two days. “The child will be sent to a Darul Aman and a case has already been filed against her father and the bridegroom,” Police inspector Muhammad Younus said.
“Action is being taken against the accused under the Child Protection Law and he will be presented before the court. Irfan is still at large but a team of police officials is searching for his whereabouts,” he said.
The child’s name has been changed to protect her identity.
A clause for concern
The “Child Marriage Restraint Act”, (CMRA) dating back to 1929 has never really been implemented and remains in the statute books.
In March 2004, the Law and Justice Commission came out with a draft amendment to the Pakistan Penal Code(PPC) seeking to penalise the act of offering or accepting a woman against her free will, or any child in marriage by way of compensation.
As per Section 4 the punishment for a male adult above eighteen years of age marrying a child, has been provided which states “whoever, being a male above eighteen years of age, contracts child marriage shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.”
Likewise, Section 5 provides the punishment for solemnising child marriage and lays down that “whoever performs, conducts or directs any child marriage shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both, unless he proves that he had reason to believe that the marriage was not a child marriage.”
While Section 6 deals with ‘”punishment for parent or guardian concerned in a child marriage. (1)
Where a minor contracts a child marriage any person having charge of the minor, whether as parent or guardianor in any other capacity, lawful or unlawful, who does any act to promote the marriage or permits it to besolemnised, or negligently fails to prevent it from being solemnised, shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both”.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2011.

Fresh food items worth Rs50b wasted every year

Fresh food items worth Rs50b wasted every year

Friday, 01 July 2011 12:13 Shamsul Islam

Pakistan loses fresh food items worth Rs50 billion every year because of lack of preservation and value-addition technology, says an agricultural expert.

“Pakistan’s fruit exports are only 4.25 per cent of total production while major exporting countries such as Greece, Morocco and Spain export over 50 per cent of their produce,” said University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan while speaking at a training programme titled “Food safety management system” on Thursday.

The vice chancellor said the significance of the food industry for the economy could be gauged from the fact that it contributes 23 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) and employs 42 per cent of the workforce. He said in order to overcome losses, “it is a prerequisite to adopt state-of-the-art technology and enhance storage capacity,” adding under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regime, the food industry would have to comply with international safety, quality, environmental and social standards.

National Institute of Food Science and Technology Director General Professor Dr Faqir Muhammad Anjum said the agro-processing industry was contributing 23 per cent to total value addition in the manufacturing sector.

“The emerging trade scenario at the global level brought challenges for Pakistan’s exports,” he said, adding issues like food hygiene and quality and environmental standards were a note of warning for the country’s major exports.

Article Source:
The Express Tribune
http://tribune.com.pk/story/199978/fresh-food-items-worth-rs50b-wasted-every-year/

U.S. EMBASSY IN PAKISTAN AWARDS EAST-WEST CENTER $1.09 MILLION FOR JOURNALIST EXCHANGE PROGRAMS

HONOLULU (Aug. 15, 2011) – The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, has awarded the East-West Center $1,087,762 over three years to continue and expand several training and exchange programs for journalists. The award will fund the continuation of the Center’s Pakistan-U.S. Journalists’ Exchange program, which was held for the first time in April this year, as well as funding participation by Pakistani journalists in the Center’s existing multinational Jefferson Fellowships and Senior Journalists Seminar programs.

Under the overall theme of “Deepening Democracy through Media in Pakistan,” the objectives of the East-West Center project are to promote free, fair and responsible media in Pakistan to help the country cope with its political and developmental challenges and to bridge the gaps in understanding between the United States and Pakistan.

“U.S.-Pakistan relations comprise one of the most complex and critical international relationships that the United States has today, and the perceptions of journalists on both sides play a major role in that,” said East-West Center President Charles E. Morrison. “The East-West Center is honored to receive this important grant award, which is an indication of the confidence that the State Department and other institutions have in the Center to carry out flexible and credible public diplomacy programs.”

The project reflects a joint effort between the East-West Center’s Seminars and Research divisions and is being conducted with strong support from the Missouri School of Journalism and a network of Pakistani institutions.

The grant will help bridge gaps in understanding between Pakistani and U.S. journalists by continuing and expanding funding for the Pakistan-United States Journalists Exchange, which offers U.S. and Pakistan journalists an opportunity to gain on-the-ground insights and first-hand information through study tours to each others’ countries. All participants meet at the East-West Center in Hawaii before and after their study tours for dialogues focused on sensitive issues between the two countries and how media coverage between them can be improved. The program also involves opportunities for Pakistani journalists to explore media issues in a two-day program with experts at the Missouri School of Journalism, covering topics such as multi-sourcing stories; roles and responsibilities of media as society's watchdog; new media's impact on news gathering; and the media's relationship with government, military and business.

The grant also contributes to overseas training of Pakistani journalists by providing special funding for journalists from Pakistan to participate in two of the EWC's existing multinational exchange programs. TheSenior Journalists Seminar is designed for journalists from the United States and Asian countries with substantial Muslim populations and focuses on bridging gaps in understanding between the United States and Muslim world. The Jefferson Fellowships provide journalists from the U.S. and a variety of Asia Pacific countries with an opportunity to travel together to selected cities in Asia or the U.S. and meet with a wide variety of authoritative sources on a particular news theme. The grant will cover funding for two Pakistani participants in each of these programs for the next three years.

Massacre of journalistic values by Mr. Abbas Nasir, Editor Daily “DAWN”

Massacre of journalistic values by Mr. Abbas Nasir, Editor Daily “DAWN”.

It is quite surprising to note the surprise expressed by few after I broke
my three-year silence to unmask the non professional and anti-worker role
of Mr. Abbas Nasir, Editor “Dawn.”

The “objection” to my letter was made that why did I keep sitting on this
expose for three years?

Well, ladies and gentlemen, this very fact is the proof of my commitment
to professional ethics and decency which kept me away from publishing or
making public injustices done to me by the Editor Dawn unless he crossed
all boundaries of decencies and stooped so low by issuing an ad against me
which was unprecedented in Dawn’s laudable history.

The publication of a “Public Notice”, through Manager (H.R.) by Mr. Abbas
Nasir Editor Dawn was aimed at damaging my prestige and honour before the
public in general and professional fraternity in particular. This was the
reason which forced me to unmask Abbas Nasir’s true face which has been
hiding for a long time.

It is unfortunate that Mr Abbas Nasir held a professional and
innocent journalist guilty of “misconduct” without any cause,
occasion, proof, or reason. Hence it was time to call a spade a
spade.

Dear friends, on 11-07-2006 I went to Karachi, on my own
initiative, to have meeting with Mr. Abbas Nasir. During the
meeting I offered Mr Abbas Nasir to resign if there was any
complaint against me about my performance, my professional or
personal conduct.

Trying to play smart in response to my offer, Mr. Abbas Nasir shifted the
blame to Haroon-Sehgal family. He told me “off the record” that the actual
reason was that the Haroon–Segal Family was not pleased to see me in the
Daily Dawn. In the very next breath he enquired about my relations with
the Haroon–Segal Family on which I apprised him in detail. He got a
promise from me not to make public the details narrated to him by me. He
also promised that he would also keep the matter secret. I kept the word
but Mr. Abbas Nasir failed to keep the promise. Therefore, now I also
have the moral right to make my point of view public.

After listening to my comments on the reservations the
Haroon–Segal family had about me, Mr. Abbas Nasir scornfully
reiterated before me that these capitalists, whether in Mills or
in the Dawn, exercise the same anti-worker seth mentality. He
then asked me not to disclose the said remarks.

Moreover, he said that my personal file was not available to him
at that time and therefore asked me to see him again at 5.00 P.M.
the next day (12-0706) at his Dawn Office, Karachi. But when I
went to see him as per schedule, he conveyed a false message
through his Office Secretary, Sh. Latif, that he could not see me
because he was not feeling well, although he was present in his
office. He passed on further instructions to me to go back to
Faisalabad and carry on my job. He also promised that he would
call me again to Karachi whenever required.

The following detailed letter was sent to him by me;

July 28, 2006

REVIEW OF TRANSFER ORDER DATED 27-6-2006

Most respectfully submitted that the undersigned visited your Office on
11th July, 2006 with a request to review the Transfer Order’s dated 27th
June 2006 issued by the Management whereby I have been posted at Karachi
vide Memorandum No. M (HR)/PHPL/06/4472.

You were kind enough to give me patient hearing and listen to my
viewpoint sympathetically wherein it was transpired that my transfer was
an outcome of a “series of complaints” moved by various persons. But the
complaints or name of complainants were not disclosed to me.

With respect to this disclosure the following humble submission are made: -

i. No verbal or written complaint had ever been intimated to me. No
explanation was called from me.

ii. My conscience as well as my service record was clean and clear. I had
always tried my utmost to serve the institution faithfully and honestly.

iii. Dictates of justice and fair play demand that I should have been
afforded an opportunity of self-defence and called upon for explanation of
my position in case there was any complaint or charge against me.

iv. I also humbly informed you that some Police quarters feeling perplexed

had been after me to “fix me up” to satisfy their hurt ego due to my
fearless and honest reporting exposing their inefficiency and corruption.

v. I also appraised your honour that some powerful police officers who
were proceeded against by the Government and concerned agencies due to my
reporting were constantly threatening myself and my family and “some
handpicked journalists who are always readily available for playing in the
hands of police officers for sake of paltry gains had been given the
assignment of launching a vilification campaign against me.

vi. I also submitted that a particular journalist Mafia accustomed to
cheap and corrupt practices, wanted to tarnish the clean image of DAWN and
myself and to bring it under their umbrella, desperately wanted to get rid
of me by all means.

vii. I also submit that I have credible, substantial and corroborative
evidence and facts to prove the facts stated above.

viii. I humbly prayed before you and also submitted a written
representation mainly agitating that if my transfer had been ordered on
some complaint, action on the same may kindly be deferred till holding and
finalization of inquiry.

ix. I also prayed that in case of any complaint against me, open inquiry
may kindly be conducted.

x. Your goodself was apprised that once when I was present in the Press
Club, situated near DAWN Office, alongwith Mr. Muhammad Shafique, Reporter
of “AAJ Television”, and Mr. Ajmal Malik, Reporter of Daily EXPRESS, when
Messrs. Imran Akram, Chief News Desk Lahore Dawn Office and Murtaza Razvi,
whom I had not known or met before, visited me without prior information
and without any file or folio, telling me that they came on some friends
invitation for lunch in the Serena Hotel Faisalabad and thought of paying
a casual visit to the DAWN Office. I also told that I warmly welcomed both
of them and apprised both the gentlemen of the project of the Press Club
by asking them to take a round of the under construction Press Club
Project. A model of the FPC was also shown to them along with a brief out
the feature of the buildings. They were invited by me to have a cup of tea
by in the DAWN Office where they stayed for about 20 minutes and took just
soft drinks instead of tea.

xi. During brief gossip the following question were put by Murtaza Razvi
in a causal manner:-

a) What was the connection between DAWN News Office and the Press Club
Building?

b) Whether I had any other source of Income other than DAWN?

c) Whether I had any connection with the PPP?

Obviously, I was not confronted with any complaint or allegation.
Therefore, I look that said questions were just a part of an informal
chat only. However, I took a pain to inform him that: -

a) The DAWN office had been acquired by me from the City District
Government in an open auction. A rent deed to that effect was also shown
to him.

b) The PC building was also under the administrative control of the CDG on
rent basis at the rate of Rs. 5/- per month. I also told him that the rent
of the Press Club building was paid by me for the last 20 years as the
same had never been paid in the past. I also shown him the notices issued
by the CDG for vacation of the PC building for non-payment of the rent
owing to which I paid the rent for said period.

c) My wife had been running two schools, which she established in 1977 and
in 1980 in two separate buildings, which were duly recognized and
registered by the Education Department before her marriage. Presently, she
is running an academy in 130-C Peoples Colony building, which she got on
rent in March 1980 and the rent deed is also in her name. The income of
the academy is purely of my wife and I have directly or indirectly nothing
to do with the affairs of the academy.

d) My source of earning was only through DAWN and contribution in the
Herald magazine.

e) I had no connection with the PPP or any other political party. Neither
I am beneficiary in any manner in the past or present with courtesy of the
PPP or any political party.

Both the gentlemen expressed their satisfaction and told that there was
no specific purpose of their questions except informal chat and left the
DAWN office Faisalabad.

It was prayed by me before your honour that a loyal and consciences
worker like me may not be allowed to be disgraced as a result of false
conspiracy by a few jealous journalists.

You are kind enough to inquire about my welfare and told me that my
personal file at the moment was not with you and directed me to see you
on 12th July, 2006 to discuss what type of the allegations were on the
file.

As per your direction, I turned up in the office of the Secretary to
Editor, at 3:45 PM, who told me that “you are not feeling well and could
not meet me. He also informed me that you had ordered to me to go back
with a message that you would find time to call me again. I was just
leaving the office of the Secretary to Editor, when all of sudden you
opened the door and finding me there repeated the message which you had
left with the Secretary for me. You were kind enough to assure me that I
would be provided a fare opportunity of self-defence in case of any
allegation against me. You were also kind enough to assure me that I
would not be subjected to public disgrace and given me a word of honour
that if my innocence was proved, the transfer orders would be revoked and
I would not be humiliated in any manner.

In the end, I would beg once again that I may kindly not be condemned
unheard and provided an opportunity of self-defence in case of any
complaint against me. It is also prayed in the name of justice and fair
play that if my transfer orders have been issued on the basis of some
complaint, the same may very kindly be deferred till formal inquiry,
which I am prepared to face.
With profoundest regards.

The contents of the letter above are not part of “off the
record” discussion. Very politely and courteously it was
alluded to by me that Mr. Abbas Nasir had failed to see me
inspite of prior appointment, and despite his presence in the
office he made an excuse.

However, Mr. Abbas Nasir was not gracious enough to reply to,
or contradict the contents of the said letter till todate.

I wish to lay before you the subsequent evens and facts
relating to this issue.

Shootouts leave 30 dead in six months: Faisalabad police claim record figure

Shootouts leave 30 dead in six months: Faisalabad police claim record figure

June 6, 2005	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 28, 1426

By Shamsul Islam Naz

FAISALABAD, June 5: As many as 30 alleged gangsters were shot dead during the past six months in 19 incidents, which the district police tag encounters. In January alone, some 12 alleged culprits were killed in shootouts. The police higher-ups insist that the force is not involved in staging fake encounters as is generally believed. However, heirs to the deceased (in some of the cases) still doubt the police claims.

It is pertinent to mention here that the killings of 30 people in encounters during just six months is something new to the law and order scenario, as the local police could not touch the figure even in one year during the past so many decades.

The figure swelled after the take-over of Fiasalabad Range DIG Sajjad Ahmad in the first week of December 2004. The police also claim that the killing of a high number of culprits has brought the crime rate down.

Two notorious criminals, Abdul Razzaq alias Bali and Ramzan, were shot dead on Dec 14 last year by the Bahlak police. The police claimed that they were wanted in cases of hired assassination and dacoity-cum-murder incidents.

The Thikriwala police claimed on Dec 30 that they had killed Falaksher alias Falku, Arif alias Bangar and Allah Rakha alias Zulfiqar Ali in an encounter.

Haider Ali alias Kala was killed and his accomplice, Rashid, arrested after an encounter with the Saddar police on Jan 11, 2005. While the Tandlianwala police shot dead Amir Ali alias Meero in an encounter the same day. The suspects were wanted in several car-snatching incidents, the police said.

Shakhi alias Shaku, who the police claimed was a hardened criminal, was killed in an exchange of fire with the Lundianwala police on Jan 12. Five days later, the Satiana police after an hour-long shootout killed Iqbal and Yousaf.

On Jan 28, two notorious gangsters — Abdul Rauf alias Billa and Muhammad Idrees alias Hafiz — were killed by the Jhang Bazaar police in an encounter.

The People’s Colony police killed two wanted persons, Imran Babar and Arif Mahmood, in a shootout on Jan 31.

Three bandits were killed in an encounter on March 3 this year when they were looting cash and valuables in Saddar police station precinct. The Chak Jhumra police killed two notorious criminals, Qamar and Liaquat, on March 15.

According to Bahlak police, they shot dead hired assassin Amir alias Amiro on 19th. However, his two accomplices managed to escape. While Walayat Ali Shahzad, who was wanted in several cases, was killed in an encounter with the Sargodha Road police on April 21.

Later on April 22, the Jaranwala police killed Abdul Ghaffar alias Bhola in a shootout. Two others, Khadim Husain and Ahmad Ali, were killed in an encounter with the Dijkot police station the same day.

Lundianwala police killed two proclaimed offenders — Muhammad Akram alias Akru and Saifullah — on April 30. Riaz and Umer Hayat were killed while their accomplice, Khushi Muhammad, rounded up by the Saddar Chiniot police after an encounter on May 3.

On May 24, hardened criminal Muhammad Arshad was shot dead by the Bahlak police. Two days later, the Sargodha Road police arrested Khalid Mahmood and Gulzar Ahmad after an encounter.

An unknown outlaw was killed in an encounter with the Tarkhani police on May 17.

Development: First Halal Industrial Park to be established

By The Express Tribune published 3 days ago

Original Article Source: The Express Tribune

By Shamsul Islam

The Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Halal Research Council (HRC) on Monday to establish Pakistan’s first Halal Industrial Park.

Located on M3 Motorway, Industrial City Faisalabad, the Halal Industrial Park will be spread over 200 acres of land.

“The establishment of the Halal Industrial Park will significantly contribute to the economy of Pakistan,” said FIEDMC Chairman Khawaja Asim Khurshid. The market size of the global Halal food industry is estimated to be around $635 billion.

Speaking on the occasion, Punjab’s Livestock and Dairy Development Department Secretary Hamid Yaqoob Sheikh said that the provincial government would extend full support for the promotion of Halal meat and dairy industry.

He stressed the need for value addition in the Halal food industry to tap the Gulf and European markets.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16th, 2011.

Muslims join Christians in protesting, mourning Gojra

BY NATHOO RAM, ON AUGUST 2ND, 2011

Two years after the tragedy, the Christian community in Gojra was joined by a handful of Muslims in commemorating the vicious attack on their neighbourhood in which seven Christians were burnt alive.

A memorial service was conducted at the Sacred Heart Church in Gojra for those who lost their lives on July 31, 2009, when a Muslim mob – incited by local mosques over allegations of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) – surrounded and set on fire dozens of Christian houses.

In what appeared to be a sign of healing ties between the Christian and Muslim communities, the Catholic priests were joined by Muslim ulema. The Bishop of Faisalabad Joseph Coutts presided over the ceremony which was attended by around 350 people.

The speakers, both Christian and Muslim, spoke of a shared revulsion against violence perpetrated in the name of religion.

“All sections of society should rise above social biases and condemn such madness in the name of religion,” said Father Younis Yaqoob. “This not only defies the country’s law but also brings shame to all of humanity.”

Tahir Naveed, a member of the Punjab Assembly, spoke out against the tendency of people to exact what they perceive to be vigilante justice, particularly in blasphemy cases.

“If a person has committed a crime, he should be prosecuted in a court of law,” he said. None of the speakers, neither Christian nor Muslim, spoke out against the law itself and focused only on what they described as its abuse. Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer and Federal Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti were killed earlier this year by fanatics who perceived them to be opposed to the blasphemy law.

By Shamsul Islam Naz
The Express Tribune

An Afghan reporter's untold story

Tom Hyland

August 21, 2011

The destroyed RTA building.

Uncertainty surrounds the death of a journalist with links to Australia who was killed during a Taliban attack, writes Tom Hyland.

ONE of Afghan journalist Ahmed Omed Khpulwak's last assignments was to report on whether Australian troops were winning the hearts and minds of his compatriots.

He died before he filed his report, killed in a savage battle where the press pass in his hands offered no protection. His brother believes the bullets that hit him were fired by an American soldier.

While he never completed his assignment - commissioned by the Lowy Institute - he did summarise his findings for a colleague.

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Ahmed Omed Khpulwak. Photo: Pajhwok Afghan News

Afghans had conflicting views of the Australian troops: they liked the reconstruction and security they brought, but would like them even more if their special forces stopped killing people in night raids.

His death seems certain to compound the distrust of all foreign troops.

Until he was killed, on July 28, Khpulwak's name had never appeared in the Australian press. Yet he was a key source of information for anyone trying to report on Oruzgan province, where Australian troops are based. He was used as a reporter and ''fixer'' for correspondents writing for The Sunday Age and other Australian papers. He helped an ABC Four Corners team on a recent assignment.

Bullet fragments found near Khpulwak's body.

The Lowy project was a longer, more complicated project, in a job full of complications. These included his strained relationship with the strongmen who are Australia's partners in Oruzgan. In recent months he complained of growing pressure from warlord Matiullah Khan, a controversial ally of Australian special forces.

Khpulwak's death was initially blamed on the Taliban, who launched a spectacular series of attacks using tactics, including suicide bombings, that made civilian deaths inevitable.

But The Sunday Age has uncovered evidence suggesting Khpulwak's death may have been ''collateral damage'' - that he was killed as US and Afghan government forces repelled the insurgent assault in Tarin Kowt, near the Australian base.

The Taliban's targets on July 28 were the governor's compound and the headquarters of Matiullah Khan. To get to him, they hit the adjacent radio and television building, where Khpulwak, 25, was killed. He was one of at least 18 civilians killed, 12 of them children. Many died when a suicide bomb collapsed a wall at a hospital that had been rebuilt by Australian engineers two years ago.

Amid conflicting accounts of Khpulwak's death, the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force, launched an inquiry after pressure from his main employers, the BBC and Pajhwok Afghan News.

But Khpulwak's brother, Jawid, dismissed the ISAF inquiry, saying that, three weeks after the event, investigators had not contacted him. ''I have heard nothing from them,'' he told The Sunday Age. ''Why is ISAF doing this inquiry? This belongs to Americans. They shot Omed.''

ISAF spokeswoman Lieutenant Commander Kaye Sweetser, in an email to The Sunday Age, said Khpulwak's family would be briefed when the inquiry was finished. ''ISAF clearly understands that earning and keeping the Afghan people's faith and trust is paramount,'' she said.

The Australian Defence Force has stressed Australian troops were not involved in the fighting, even though it took place a short walk from a camp where about 1000 Australians are based.

What is clear is that Khpulwak was in the wrong place at the wrong time, on a day when his two main challenges converged - a lack of security and unreliable communications.

Pajhwok Afghan News director Danish Karokhel said Khpulwak went to the office of the national broadcaster, RTA, as it was one of few places with electricity to recharge his laptop and an internet connection, so he could file a story and pictures.

He was trapped when the Taliban struck with a suicide bombing. Khpulwak was wounded in the blast, and sheltered in a toilet at the rear of the building. He sent two SMSs to his brother, that ''confirmed he was in a very difficult condition and it was very difficult for him to survive'', Mr Karokhel said.

''I am hiding. Death has come,'' the first message said. The second said: ''Pray for me if I die.''

Jawid collected his brother's body later that day. He said his media pass was still in his hands.

He said Afghan police told him a US soldier found his brother in the toilet. ''My brother was alive. One wall of the toilet, it was damaged, but he was alive. My brother was shot from five metres. Police told me he showed the American soldier his ID card.''

Jawid Khpulwak collected bullet casings from the scene. A manufacturer's stamp shows they were made in the US. Pictures of the scene indicate the ferocity of the fighting, with what appear to be at least 18 bullet holes on the wall where the reporter's body was found.

While the ADF insisted no Australians were involved in the fighting, an ADF media release on July 29 said several US troops were wounded in the attack on Matiullah Khan's base. At the time the militia leader held no official post, but a week later he was appointed police chief.

A Taliban statement on July 28 offered ''condolences'' to Khpulwak who ''was martyred in the crossfire inside his office''.

While the Taliban may be ultimately responsible, given their attacks on civilian structures that day, many Afghans were willing to blame foreign forces, according to Susanne Schmeidl, a Kabul-based analyst and associate of the dead journalist.

This distrust raised questions about the foreign force's credibility among people they claim to protect, Dr Schmeidl said. She spoke to Khpulwak days before the attack to discuss his report for the Lowy Institute, on what local people thought of Australian troops, and whether they should leave.

He had found people were divided. They appreciated the work of soldiers in reconstruction and expanding security. But they disliked Australian special forces, ''because they do little to prevent people from getting killed while conducting night raids and capture-and-kill missions'', Dr Schmeidl said.

''Omed noted that Australian forces would overall be better liked if they started behaving better, which I took to mean to rein in their SOF [special operations forces].''

Khpulwak's brother now feels Tarin Kowt is too dangerous for him and his family, who include the dead reporter's wife and three-month-old daughter.

He said he had recently received an anonymous death threat from an Afghan, warning him to stop blaming the Americans. ''They warn me, 'maybe your home or you will be shot by an American helicopter'.''

While Jawid Khplwak would not speculate on the source of the threat, his journalist brother had complained of pressure from Matiullah Khan. Dr Schmeidl said Khpulwak felt it was getting harder for journalists in Oruzgan: ''He told me at one point it was because Matiullah Khan has been trying to control the media, local journalism, because he feels they are making him look bad.''

For Mr Karokhel, Khpulwak's death has left a gap in his reporting network. ''Omed was interested to report the people's problems, the people's needs, and that is why he was a journalist,'' he said. ''He was a person who we cannot replace in a place like Oruzgan. He was a very strong guy and now we've lost him.''

Journalist trainer Lisa Schnellinger, an adviser to the news agency, said Khpulwak's loss would be felt far beyond an isolated corner of a distant conflict.

''This was a reporter who could get information in a place like Oruzgan in a way foreigners never can,'' Ms Schnellinger said. ''Every death is a tragedy, every journalist's death is a tragedy, but sometimes the loss is so extreme - and that's the case here. It's literally a loss to the world.''

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