Published on: August 18, 2025 5:29 AM
The chief minister of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province this week directed authorities to investigate the death of local reporter Khawar Hussain, whose body was recovered from a car in the southern city of Sanghar on Saturday night.
As per media reports, Hussain’s body was recovered from his hometown city of Sanghar outside a local restaurant on Hyderabad Road on Saturday night. News reports said Hussain was found with a gunshot wound to his head.
Sanghar Senior Superintendent of Police Abid Baloch told reporters that police were still collecting evidence and were still probing the cause of his death. He confirmed police had recovered a pistol clutched in Hussain’s hand and had also retrieved his mobile phone.
Hussain was a Karachi-based correspondent for Dawn News. News of his death drew condemnations from the Karachi Press Club and senior members of the Sindh government.
“Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has taken notice of the unnatural death of senior journalist Khawar Hussain in Sanghar,” a statement from Murad’s spokesperson said on Saturday.
“The chief minister has sought a report from the inspector general of police.”
He said Shah had directed the IG to assign the investigation into Hussain’s mysterious death to the province’s “best police officer.”
“The real cause of death must be determined through investigation,” Shah was quoted as saying by his spokesperson.
Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed grief over Hussain’s death. Zardari, whose PPP rules Sindh, directed the provincial government to conduct a transparent inquiry into the journalist’s death.
“Journalist Khawar Hussain was a dutiful and responsible professional,” Zardari said as per a statement released by his official residence, Bilawal House. “His sudden demise is deeply saddening.”
Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori also expressed grief over Hussain’s death, saying that authorities had been tasked to carry out a probe into the incident.
“Khawar Hussain’s murder is a great tragedy for journalism and society,” he added.
Karachi Press Club President Fazil Jamili, Secretary Sohail Afzal Khan, and the governing body described the news of Hussain’s passing as a “highly tragic incident,” saying it has left the entire journalist community in “shock and grief.”
“They demanded that the Sindh government conduct an impartial investigation to uncover the real causes and underlying motives behind his death, and take strict action against those responsible,” the statement said.
As per a report released by the Pakistan-based media and development sector watchdog Freedom Network last year, 184 incidents of violence against journalists took place in Sindh between 2018 and 2023. These included the killings of 10 journalists in the province.
Pakistani journalists have frequently accused the state and influential politicians of subjecting them to threats, intimidation and harassment for reporting on sensitive topics over the years. These allegations, however, have been denied by the state.
