All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) forms fact-finding body to probe Frontier Post issue
KARACHI- Executive Committee of the APNS has formed a fact-finding commission to probe into the issue of publication of a blasphemous letter in daily The Frontier Post, Peshawar, stated a press release of the APNS issued Thursday.
Mr. Arshad A. Zuberi, Secretary General of the APNS has stated that the executive committee at its emergency meeting held under the chairmanship of its President Mir Shakilur Rahman has heard the explanation of Mr. Jaleel Afridi of daily The Frontier Post, Peshawar and found that the administration of the publication appears to be responsible for the heinous act of printing the highly derogatory and sacrilegious letter as the person incharge of the opinion page failed to check the contents of the letter copied from Internet.
Executive Committee was informed by the representative of The Frontier Post that it has not only sought unqualified pardon from Almighty Allah and the Muslim Ummah through its written appeals, explanation and advertisement wherein it has explained its position that it was not involved in the incident as the letter was published by a journalist on his own without the approval of the editorial staff. The Frontier Post representative has termed it a conspiracy hatched against it on its policy on Afghanistan. Executive Committee of APNS decided that its delegation would visit Peshawar to meet Ulema and the governor of NWFP to request an amicable resolution of the issue. The members of the committee appealed to the ulema and religious sections and parties to accept the apology rendered by The Frontier Post and call off the agitation against the newspaper so that the newspaper could continue its publication and disseminate their news and propagate their views.
Executive Committee noted that burning and damaging the private property of unrelated citizens was against the teachings of Islam which should be avoided and hoped that Ulema would play their due role in bringing about normalcy in this regard.
APNS committee also urged the provincial administration to release the arrested persons from the office of daily The Frontier Post including a guest and should arrest, prosecute the culprits mentioned in the complaint lodged by the newspaper. The executive committee also advised all member publications to refrain from publishing any part, sentences or text of the sacrilegious letter in quotes or translation in other languages as it would amount to, blasphemy.
Source: The News
Date:2/3/2001
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