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Pakistan Press Foundation

Freedom of Expression

Police arrest over 20 journalists in Quetta

QUETTA (November 22 2007): Police on Wednesday detained over 20 journalists after thrashing them with batons, who were protesting against curb on media and ban on independent TV channels. Journalists wanted to march toward the Governor’s House from Press Club Quetta in protest against media curbs and the arrest of 180 journalists detained for six […]


Insane violence against journalists

There was no earthly reason for the Karachi police to go berserk and assault a journalists’ protest rally on Tuesday, causing injuries to senior journalists, and earning bad marks for the caretaker government of Sindh. The journalists had begun their protest in front of the Press Club to express their outrage at the fresh curbs […]


US-based Pakistani journalists protest Karachi media crackdown

Washington: Pakistani journalists in the United States have expressed their horror at the attack made on their protesting colleagues in Karachi by police on Tuesday. As many as 150 were arrested, including TV cameramen and reporters. A resolution circulated by Masood Haider on behalf of the US-based media professionalsÂ’ group said, “The Coalition of Pakistani […]


‘No country can prosper by gagging media’

LAHORE, Nov 20: A large number of journalists, in response to a country-wide protest call by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) against media curbs, staged a rally here on Tuesday. The protesters carrying banners and placards inscribed with their slogans, marched from the Lahore Press Club up to the Punjab Assembly building on […]


Journalists hold protests against curbs on media

PESHAWAR, Nov 20: Journalists took out a procession from the Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday to denounce the imposition of emergency rule and curbs on the media. After marching on the Shershah Suri Road, the journalists staged a demonstration outside the telephone exchange off The Mall. They chanted slogans against what they called a martial […]


TV channels ban case put off for a week

KARACHI, Nov 20: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of a petition against the ban on four television channels to Nov 27 to enable the information and broadcasting ministry to file comprehensive comments. Deputy Attorney-General Rizwan Ahmed Siddiqui requested adjournment to find out why the Dubai authorities have cancelled or suspended Geo […]


Journalists protest media restrictions across country

* Over 150 arrested Karachi journalists freed * Journalists in Lahore, Islamabad and Quetta urge govt to lift ban on private TV channels KARACHI/ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE/QUETTA: Journalists across the country rallied against media curbs on Tuesday, resulting in over 150 being arrested in Karachi, before being released late on Tuesday night. The protests, which had been […]


STOP THE PRESSES!

KARACHI: ‘Aur Mango Azaadi,’ taunted a policeman in riot gear while using a four-foot long bamboo stick to lash reporters, sub-editors, photographers and media supporters who had gathered outside the Karachi Press Club to protest media curbs Tuesday. The rally concluded only after more than 200 journalists, belonging to different newspapers and TV channels, voluntarily […]


Police brutality against protesting journalists

KARACHI, Nov 20: The police arrested more than 100 journalists on Tuesday after they baton-charged the newsmen’s peaceful procession towards the Governor’s House from the Karachi Press Club organized to express concern against media curbs a day after the government decided to release those arrested for defying emergency rule. However, late on Tuesday night the […]


Lifting emergency

Pakistan is a highly misunderstood nation. Various media reports selectively declare it to be the most dangerous place in the world, even worse than Iraq. The Foreign Offices of Western nations have issued warnings (travel advice) to their citizens regarding visiting Pakistan. All these paint a picture of gloom and doom. The imposition of emergency, […]


The shutdown in Dubai

ARY and Geo TV channels have been wrapped up in Dubai due to immense pressure by the government of Pakistan. These channels have been ordered to shut down their businesses and transmissions by the authorities of the concerned country from where it was aired. I am very worried by the direct foreign intervention in the […]


WASHINGTON DIARY: A deeper crisis –Dr Manzur Ejaz

The fact is that even the mainstream opposition parties, PPP and PMLN are not too accepting of an independent judiciary or media. They may be supporting the judiciary and media right now, for pragmatic reasons, but once in power, their attitudes might not remain consistent General Musharraf’s imposition of emergency and crackdown on the judiciary, […]


CPNE for end to ban on media

Newspaper editors’ national body Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) has said free media and free and fair elections are impossible under the emergency rule and demanded immediate end to emergency and ban on Geo and ARY news channels. CPNE made these demands by passing unanimous resolutions in a meeting in Lahore, jointly presided over […]


Station owner harassed, financial losses severe as ban on television stations continue

(New York, November 20, 2007) – The Dubai government should allow Geo Television and ARY Digital, which broadcast from Dubai and function as Pakistan’s most independent and respected television stations, to resume operations immediately, Human Rights Watch said today. On November 17, the Dubai authorities summarily gave Geo Television and ARY Digital two hours to […]