APNS elects new office-bearers
KARACHI: Arif Nizami of the Nawa-i-Waqt Group of publications and Muhammad Aslam Kazi of Daily Kawish, were re-elected President and Secretary-General of the All-Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) by the Executive Committee-elect for the second term.
The newly elected Executive Committee, at its first meeting in Karachi, also elected Syed Fasih Iqbal of The Balochistan Times, Quetta, Senior Vice- President, Mumtaz A Tahir of Daily Aftab, Multan, Vice-President, Mushtaq Ahmed Qureshi of Monthly Naey Ufaq Joint Secretary, and Waqar Yousuf Azeemi of Monthly Roohani Digest as Finance Secretary for the new term.
The General Council welcomed the announcement of Zia Shahid that the Editors’ Council had decided in principle to merge with the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors for which a committee comprising Arif Nizami, Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman, and Zia Shahid was formed by the AGM to work out the modalities.
The Council was also informed by Zia Shahid that he had unconditionally withdrawn the cases filed against the APNS in different courts.
The Council appreciated the successful efforts put in by Arif Nizami, Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman, and Zia Shahid in forging unity in the ranks of the industry.
The General Council strongly condemned the coercive actions of the government against the press and noted with grave concern the continued ban on the government advertisements to Daily Nawa-i-Waqt, Daily The Nation, and other newspapers which, it said, was contrary to the lofty claims of the government for a free press in the country.
The General Council through a resolution, rejected the use of advertisements as a lever to curb press freedom and stifle the forth estate in an effort to silent the dissenting voice in print.
The Council endorsed the Joint Action Committee of the APNS and the CPNE headed by Syed Faseih Iqbal and Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman and unanimously resolved to take any action at the call of the Committee.
The General Council was apprised by different members of the fact that the chairman, ITNE, Justice Nawaz Gandapur, was hurling threats at member publications in different cities of dire consequences and condemned such a biased attitude of the Chairman. The Council noted that the Supreme Court has already advised the Chairman not to take any coercive action against the publishers of newspapers.
The General Council, in a resolution, called upon the Ministry of Finance to reduce the interest rates to a maximum of 5 percent of all loans to newspapers from the government-controlled banks and financial institutions so that the member publications may upgrade the print technology and improve their standards to face the challenges of the new era.
The General Council was addressed by the members, including Arif Nizami, Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman, Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami, Zia Shahid, Syed Faseih Iqbal, Jamil Athar, Mustafa Sadiq, Mumtaz A Tahir, Iqbal Sidhu, Kazi Asad Abid, Mushtaq A Qureshi, Dr Jabbar Khattak, Khushnood Ali Khan, Waqar Yousuf Azeemi, Sardar Mehtab Khan, and Muhammad Aslam Kazi.
Earlier, the Annual General Council chaired by President, Arif Nizami, adopted the Annual Report of the Executive Committee for the preceding year after full-length deliberations as well as the Annual Accounts of the Society. The General Council, attended by members from across the country, formed an Election Commission headed by Younus Riaz (Beopar Daily),with Ghulam Akbar (Daily Al-Akhbar), and Naseer Hashmi (Daily Ummat) as members.
The Election Commission conducted the election to the Executive Committee for the year 2004-2005.
The following were declared elected.
Karachi Dailies Seats (6):
Daily Awami Awaz; Daily Aghaz; Daily Business Recorder; Daily Jang; Daily Kainaat; Daily Qaumi Akhbar
Lahore Dailies Seats (6):
Daily Dawn; Daily Din; Daily Musawat; Daily Nawa-e-Waqt; Daily Pakistan;
Daily Wifaq
Rawalpindi/Islamabad Dailies Seats (2):
Daily Ausaf; Daily Sahafat
Balochistan Dailies Seats (2):
Daily Awam; Daily Balochistan Times
Frontier Dailies Seats (2):
Daily Mashriq; Daily Wahdat
Sindh, excluding Karachi (2):
Daily Kaleem, Sukkur; Daily Kawish, Hyderabad
Punjab (excluding Lahore Rawalpindi Ibd) (3):
Daily Aftab, Multan; Daily Business Report, Faisalabad; Daily Paigham, Faisalabad
Periodicals’ Seats (4):
Monthly Naey Ufaq, Karachi; Monthly Roohani Digest, Karachi; Monthly Kiran, Karachi; Monthly The Cricketer, Karachi
News & News Comments (Punjab/Frontier) (1):
Monthly Shahrag-e-Pakistan, Lahore
News & News Comments (Sindh/Balochistan): One joint seat
Monthly Mystery Magazine, Karachi
News & News Comments (General) One Seat:
Monthly Women’s Times,
Lahore
General Seats (Metropolitan Dailies) (2):
Daily Millat (Gujrati), Karachi; Daily Khabrain, Lahore
General Seats (Regional Dailies) (2):
Daily Deyanat, Sukkur; Daily Ibrat, Hyderabad
The Executive Committee also elected Ms Qudsia Khan, Daily Financial Post, Karachi, to the women publishers’ seat.
Source: The News
Date:4/1/2004
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