It was a little past midnight on Jan 1, 2014. In the town of Badah, Larkana district, journalist Shan Dahar was standing outside a small medical store located in a narrow lane. He had been working on an investigative story about free medicines supplied by an NGO for poor patients being illegally sold to local […]
ISLAMABAD: The approval of a bill by a National Assembly’s standing committee, which proposed up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine for those who “intentionally ridicule the armed forces”, has drawn ire of politicians from across the divide as well as the legal fraternity. The criticism of the bill came on Thursday not only […]
Freedom of expression is a fundamental right. Though this right is violated in autocratic governments and dictatorships, all functioning democracies have a mechanism to defend this right without which no civilized society commands respect of the global community in the 21st century. The UN recognizes this right as enshrined in its declaration of human rights. […]
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) are deeply concerned about the proposed amendments to the Pakistan Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code 1898, by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior, which has recommended that persons who ‘disrespect’ or ‘intentionally ridicule’ the […]
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) rejects any attempts to further gag the fundamental right of freedom of expression in the name of preventing defamation and disrespect of the armed forces. Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP-P) Secretary General Farhatullah Babar in a statement on Wednesday expressed grave concern over a bill moved by a PTI MNA […]
ISLAMABAD: Amid stiff resistance offered by the opposition parties, a parliamentary body, on Wednesday, passed a bill seeking to make intentionally ridiculing and defaming the armed forces a punishable crime. The National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior, which met with MNA Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz in the chair, passed the Criminal Law (amendment) Act 2020, […]
Pakistan saw “[…] serious restrictions on free expression, the press and the internet including violence against journalists, unjustified arrests and disappearances of journalists, censorship and site blocking […]” during 2020. This analysis of the situation of press freedom in Pakistan was presented as part of the US Department of State’s 2020 Country Report on Human […]
PESHAWAR: A case has been registered against senior journalist Ghulam Akbar Marwat in Lakki Marwat over unveiling alleged corruption in the distribution of subsidized flour. The Food Department has also accused the journalist of blackmailing. The journalist community has condemned the vindictive action against the journalist over reporting malpractices. Ghulam Akbar Marwat, who is president […]
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will unveil the right to information ordinance on Aug 18 (Sunday) during a special function to be attended by provincial Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan.The ordinance will come into force with immediate effect, say the relevant officials. The officials told Dawn on Thursday that Khyber […]
Every independence day, I take some time to think again about the creation of the country, not whether if it should have been created or not — that’s a rather moot point now — but the reasons behind its creation, and the hopes and aspirations it brought with itself. I remember how the 15th of […]
IMRAN Khan has been given a contempt-of-court notice to explain why action should not be taken against him for, if I am not wrong, uttering some words against the judges. What I wish to know is whether there is anything like freedom of speech in this country and why the PTI has not used this […]
KARACHI: Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) has condemned attack on Balochistan newspaper daily Tawar’s bureau office in Karachi. Office bearers of CPNE said in a statement issued on Saturday that some unknown persons attacked on newspaper’s office who not only took away costly office equipment but also set on fire its record. The CPNE […]
NEW YORK: The family of slain US journalist Daniel Pearl welcomed on Monday the arrest in Pakistan of a former leader of a banned militant outfit allegedly involved in his 2002 murder. Qari Abdul Hayee, popularly known as Asadullah and from Karachi’s Gulshan-i-Iqbal neighbourhood, was detained in a raid on his hideout on Sunday, according […]
By: Muhammad Akbar Notezai The issue of the killings of Balochistan’s journalists is neither being paid heed to internationally nor nationally In Balochistan, journalists are susceptible to danger because of their honest and brave reporting in the restive province. Moreover, there are many journalists who have quit performing their journalistic duties. This is the reason […]
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