Ban on allocation of government advertisements in Nawa-i-Waqt publications
Mr. Arif Nizami, editor of the daily “The Nation” and executive editor of the daily “Nawa-i-Waqt”, says the government has banned the placement of government advertisements in newspapers belonging to the Nawa-i-Waqt Group of Publications, one of Pakistan’s leading media organisations.
According to press reports, Nizami said the ban contradicts Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali’s claims that he “believes in press freedom and is against any
kind of pressure on the media.” Nizami added that the policy negates the government’s claims that the Pakistan media is free.
“We are facing this situation for opposing the government on issues like nuclear scientists, the Kashmir and the supremacy of Parliament in the country,” he said.
“Our newspaper differentiates between the country’s ational interest and the interest of the government,” Nizami said. “Our [reporting] about supremacy of democratic institutions in the country pains the rulers.
The military’s job is to defend the frontiers and it should concentrate on that instead of ruling the country,” he dded. Nizami declared that Nawa-i-Waqt Publications will not compromise on its views on Pakistan, democratic stitutions, democracy, Kashmir and the nuclear programme.
Saeed Aasi, president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ-Dastoori), strongly condemned the ban on allocation of government advertisements to the Nawa-i-Waqt Group of Publications and said the move reflects the ulers’ “dictatorial mentality.”
Source: PPF
Date:2/27/2004
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