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On air 1700GMT: Will the death of Saleem Shahzad change anything in Pakistan?

Robyn Bresnahan Robyn Bresnahan | 14:46 UK time, Wednesday, 1 June 2011

Funeral of killed journalist Saleem Shahzad.

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This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 1 June, 2011. Listen to the programme.

Journalists in Pakistan bid a sad farewell to their colleague Saleem Shazad today. Fellow reporter
After disappearing on Sunday from Islamabad, Shahzad was found slain dozens of miles outside the capital yesterday. Police said his body bore signs of torture.

An investigative reporter who wrote for the Asia Time Online and other publications, he often covered sensitive topics in Pakistan such as the ties between al-Qaeda and Pakistan's navy. Before he was killed, he told a human rights activist he'd been threatened by intelligence agents.

But will his death change anything in Pakistan?

A senior Pakistani intelligence official said it was "absurd" to say Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was involved.

Colleagues at his funeral have vowed Shahzad's killing will not silence them.

Prominent Pakistani journalist Azhar Abbas said, "we will not shut our voices down. The journalist community is united on this."

But it's not just journalists who are worried about what's happened.

Umer, a listener in Karachi phoned in to say, "Ordinary people are getting abducted and kidnapped too. None of us feel safe."

So what will it take to change things in Pakistan? Is there anything other countries can do? How important is it for journalists and other Pakistanis to continue to speak out, even though the risks are clearly high?

Please post your thoughts below or on our and I'll read out as many as I can on air.



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