Senior journalist Matiullah Jan announced on Monday that he was leaving Neo News TV, days after a dinner he held at the National Press Club (NPC) in Islamabad for foreign journalists turned into a major controversy. Jan reportedly arranged and planned the dinner, which sparked sharp criticism from sections of the media community.

Jan hosted the gathering on April 25 for foreign journalists who were visiting Islamabad to cover the US-Iran diplomatic talks. The NPC leadership reportedly asked him to postpone the event as it coincided with an official Ministry of Information and Broadcasting cultural programme at the same venue but Jan declined.

As seen in a video posted of the event, Jan is seen delivering remarks that touched on press freedom restrictions, alleged harassment of journalists, and the case of Advocate Imaan Mazari.

Critics accused Jan of misrepresenting the dinner as an official NPC event, and misusing the club’s name and logo.

American journalist Caitlin Doornbos, who was invited and attended the dinner, later voiced her frustration on X, saying that she did not know that the event was about “criticising a foreign government”.

“Did anyone ask the foreign journalists whose photos are now associated with this how they felt about it? Personally, I feel deceived and used,” she wrote.

“I would have enjoyed learning more about the media landscape privately, but our images were blasted out in association with a political statement implying our solidarity in criticizing a foreign government in which we’re guests,” she added.

Pro-government commentators and NPC office-bearers condemned the event as unethical, with hashtags including #ShameOnMTJ trending online.

Supporters, however, defended Jan’s remarks as legitimate dissent, citing documented cases of journalist arrests, YouTube channel blocks, and prosecutions under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act.

On Monday, NPC Senior Vice President Ehtisham ul Haq addressed the controversy on X. “As Senior Vice President of the National Press Club, I wish to clarify that the recent event in question was organised in the personal capacity of a few journalists and was not an official event of the National Press Club,” he wrote.

He added that shields were presented in the name of the club’s elected body without its knowledge or involvement. “The National Press Club has no connection with speeches made by certain individuals, especially when made in front of foreign journalists. We remain committed to transparency, institutional integrity, and responsible representation,” he said.

Hours later, Jan announced on social media that his “journey with Neo News TV has abruptly come to an end,” thanking the organisation’s owner and management for their support during his three-and-a-half-year association. “Speaking for democracy, free speech, journalists and journalism is not a crime,” he wrote, adding that this was not the first time he had faced such a situation, nor the first government under which he had done so.

Jan did not clarify why he left the news network.