Government committed to free Press: Jabbar
LAHORE- Former Federal Information Minister Javed Jabbar has contended that the present military government has been committed to free Press and has taken a number of initiatives to strengthen it since its inception last October.
Jabbar, who recently resigned from his office, made this statement in his reply to a letter written by Mr Johann P. Fritz, Director, International Press Institute (IPI) to Chief Executive Pervez Musharraf on September 29.
The text of Javed Jabbar’s letter, a copy of which has also been sent to President APNS is as follows:
This is in response to your letter dated 29 September 2000 addressed to General Pervez Musharraf, Chief Executive of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan with a copy marked to the undersigned. The delay in reply is deeply regretted.
While I have for personal reasons resigned with effect from 13 October, 2000 from the posts of Minister of Information and Media Development and Adviser to the Chief Executive of Pakistan on National Affairs, I am addressing this letter to you as the subject of your own communication concerned events that occurred during my tenure at the Ministry.
The office of the Chief Executive may be separately addressing a reply to you. My letter is on my own behalf and does not formally represent the views of the Chief Executive. At the outset, I would like to record that the Dawn newspaper is an important journal and its continued, unfettered publication is a vital part of the free Press of Pakistan.
However, the editorial and main agreement policies of Dawn are a source of for they reflect at different times, a bias and an imbalance unbecoming of a newspaper that claims an independent position. As a citizen of Pakistan who has consistently campaigned for, and rendered practical support to the cause of a free and independent Press, I strongly condemn the attempt by the management of Dawn to completely misrepresent an inspection visit to its premises in Karachi as being an attempt to intimidate and coerce an independent newspaper.
This willful misrepresentation has created an entirely misleading and incorrect perception amongst leading organisations and eminent individuals both at home and overseas such as at IPI. Please note that similar inspection visits were paid to several other newspaper offices. No complaint similar to Dawn was made by any other newspaper. A relatively minor administrative incident has been converted and magnified out of all proportion into a high-pitched piece of theatrics.
You may be able to assess the veracity of the claims that I make in the preceding paragraphs by noting the fact that elected distinguished representatives of the free press in Pakistan have themselves acknowledged that, never before in the 53 year history of our country has there been as much freedom of the press as has existed during the past 12 months.
I invite your attention to the statements made by Mr. Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman, President of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) while speaking in Karachi on 2nd October, 2000 on the occasion of the Annual Awards Ceremony of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society at which General Pervez Musharraf was the chief guest. While acknowledging this truth, the President of APNS did not mince words when presenting a very critical appraisal of other aspects of the government’s policies and programmes in further confirmation of the fact that we have an open environment of candid and uninhibited discourse in our country.
On 10 October, 2000 at a press conference addressed by General Pervez Musharraf in Lahore during which extremely blunt questions were put and answered without evasion, and whose recording was telecast and broadcast in almost its entirety on radio and TV channels the same night, the President of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors, Mr. Arif Nizami also commented, before putting a question to the Chief Executive, that there exists unprecedented freedom of the press in our country at this time.
It was also acknowledged that, unlike past practices the present government has made no overt or covert attempt to coerce or harass any journalist or newspaper for being critical about government’s policies.
I invite your attention to the text of the statement released on behalf of the Government of Pakistan on 29 September, 2000. I take this opportunity to emphasize that my own addressing of a letter to the editor and to the management of Dawn on 19 September, 2000 was inevitable because Dawn itself violated a basic principle of ethical journalism when it failed to publish L contradiction to a defamatory allegation published earlier in its columns. Regrettably, Dawn has also willfully misrepresented the contents and purpose of my letter to make it appear as if it was an intimidate Dawn.
On several occasions in the recent past, Dawn, has also omitted to publish contradictions of incorrect news published in its columns or has suppressed news reports on various policy issues.
A most recent instance of misrepresentation by Dawn is the report published on 15 October 2000 regarding my resignation. The report speculatively attributed it to “serious differences” between the newly-appointed Additional Secretary In-charge of the Ministry and myself. The fact is that no “serious differences” exist. When a contradiction was issued clarifying this and other factors, virtually all other newspapers published this contradiction on 16 and 17 October except for Dawn.
For the record, on a non-official basis, I also happen to be the founding convener of the Citizens Media Commission of Pakistan whose Chairman is the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Dr. Nasirn Hasan Shah. This is the first independent citizens forum set up in our country in 1997 to monitor and analyze media policies and issues from a public interest perspective as we need a non-media and a non-official forum to, amongst other functions, hold media accountable for the exercise of their freedom.
On a regional level, I am the founding chairman of the South Asian Media Association (SAMA), established in Colombo in 1991 and so far the only forum that brings together editors, scholars and electronic media specialists from all seven South Asian countries. SAMA has also been associated with extensive work for reform of media laws and for the strengthening of the freedom of the Press.
Source: The Nation
Date:11/1/2000
” 
” 
” 
” 
fenofibrate 200mg uk buy fenofibrate sale order fenofibrate for sale
tricor tablet buy fenofibrate 160mg generic buy tricor 200mg generic
purchasing cialis on the internet order sildenafil 50mg generic viagra drug
ketotifen 1mg tablet imipramine 75mg pills buy tofranil paypal
order generic minoxytop buy minoxytop no prescription new ed pills
order minoxidil online cheap cheapest ed pills online buy erectile dysfunction medication
cost precose repaglinide for sale buy fulvicin 250mg without prescription
order aspirin generic levoflox 500mg drug imiquimod canada
aspirin drug buy aspirin 75mg without prescription purchase imiquimod online cheap
meloset tablet order meloset 3 mg generic danocrine online order
buy dipyridamole generic purchase dipyridamole without prescription purchase pravachol online
order melatonin sale cost danocrine 100mg order danazol 100 mg generic
buy dydrogesterone without a prescription order januvia 100mg for sale order jardiance 25mg pills
order duphaston 10mg without prescription brand sitagliptin 100mg buy jardiance generic
buy florinef medication buy fludrocortisone pills for sale imodium 2 mg us
order etodolac online cheap buy mebeverine 135 mg for sale purchase cilostazol for sale
etodolac for sale online generic cilostazol cilostazol generic
prasugrel 10 mg generic generic chlorpromazine order tolterodine 2mg sale
buy mestinon 60 mg for sale mestinon for sale buy rizatriptan 5mg pills
order ferrous 100 mg for sale actonel 35 mg usa order sotalol 40mg sale
mestinon us piroxicam 20mg oral buy rizatriptan without a prescription
vasotec cheap casodex 50mg usa buy lactulose without a prescription
xalatan buy online xeloda over the counter exelon 3mg pills
order xalatan for sale rivastigmine 6mg canada exelon 3mg without prescription
buy generic betahistine for sale buy latanoprost online buy probalan no prescription
premarin us order cabergoline 0.25mg sale order sildenafil 50mg sale
cheap premarin 0.625mg buy premarin 600 mg online cheap sildenafil over counter
prilosec 20mg uk montelukast without prescription where can i buy metoprolol
buy tadalafil generic buy viagra generic cheap sildenafil without prescription
micardis 20mg without prescription order telmisartan pills molnupiravir online order
cialis 40mg uk sildenafil 100mg england order sildenafil online cheap
order cenforce 50mg without prescription naproxen 250mg generic chloroquine medication
modafinil online order provigil 200mg sale deltasone 10mg sale
buy provigil 100mg buy phenergan without a prescription oral prednisone
cefdinir 300mg brand cefdinir generic buy generic prevacid
buy accutane 10mg pills amoxicillin 500mg price order generic zithromax
buy isotretinoin 10mg without prescription amoxil order online cheap zithromax
order azipro 250mg online cheap prednisolone us neurontin medication
lipitor 20mg cheap albuterol 100mcg drug norvasc 5mg pill
order azipro 250mg pill buy neurontin medication gabapentin 100mg us
buy lipitor 10mg online buy generic albuterol for sale buy cheap amlodipine
play roulette online real money order generic furosemide 40mg lasix for sale online
online blackjack for real money usa furosemide 100mg cheap buy lasix for sale diuretic
protonix 40mg ca buy protonix order phenazopyridine 200mg generic
blackjack online game order doxycycline generic ventolin 4mg cheap
slot casino online roulette free albuterol sale
hollywood casino stromectol 3mg pill ivermectin 6mg tablet
online slots real money usa online casino games real money buy stromectol 3mg
buy amantadine sale purchase aczone buy generic dapsone for sale
poker sites buy synthroid 75mcg online cost synthroid
free slot machine games online casino games real money buy generic synthroid over the counter
buy clomid 50mg generic cheap azathioprine 25mg order imuran online cheap
clomiphene 100mg price isosorbide 20mg cheap buy generic azathioprine
order medrol pills nifedipine 30mg cost triamcinolone order
levitra 20mg cheap oral zanaflex tizanidine online
purchase vardenafil generic lanoxin pill zanaflex for sale
buy generic perindopril over the counter coversyl ca buy fexofenadine generic
buy generic dilantin online phenytoin generic ditropan drug
buy phenytoin without prescription buy dilantin no prescription ditropan 2.5mg uk
baclofen 10mg cheap ketorolac tablet cheap ketorolac
lioresal drug ketorolac cheap order toradol 10mg without prescription
how to buy loratadine purchase loratadine online cheap buy generic dapoxetine 30mg
buy ozobax sale toradol generic order generic toradol 10mg
buy baclofen no prescription order ozobax generic toradol 10mg canada
buy alendronate sale buy colcrys generic buy nitrofurantoin 100 mg online
buy fosamax 70mg generic order alendronate without prescription buy furadantin 100 mg online cheap
order inderal sale inderal 20mg drug plavix 75mg oral
buy inderal paypal plavix 150mg price buy plavix generic
amaryl 4mg for sale order amaryl 1mg buy etoricoxib 60mg sale
cheap nortriptyline 25mg nortriptyline online order purchase panadol online
nortriptyline oral buy methotrexate 10mg pill acetaminophen tablet
cost coumadin 2mg order paxil metoclopramide 10mg generic
buy medex without prescription buy reglan 20mg generic maxolon price
order orlistat 120mg sale buy diltiazem medication order diltiazem 180mg sale
pepcid tablet famotidine sale buy tacrolimus medication
pepcid 20mg pills order prograf 1mg generic prograf 1mg without prescription
buy azelastine generic buy acyclovir 800mg generic buy generic irbesartan online
buy generic nexium buy nexium 20mg for sale buy topamax for sale
order sumatriptan online order sumatriptan 25mg generic buy avodart paypal
order generic sumatriptan buy generic sumatriptan over the counter avodart 0.5mg generic
buy ranitidine 300mg without prescription celecoxib oral order celecoxib generic
buy zantac 300mg generic mobic over the counter celecoxib 100mg drug
how to buy buspirone purchase zetia online cordarone oral
tamsulosin 0.2mg price ondansetron 8mg us oral zocor
cost flomax 0.4mg simvastatin 10mg usa simvastatin 20mg oral
motilium 10mg brand tetracycline 250mg without prescription cost tetracycline
aldactone 25mg usa purchase spironolactone generic finpecia tablet
buy spironolactone pills for sale proscar 5mg without prescription order finpecia for sale
buy nothing day essay help write my paper writing assignments
buy forcan without a prescription ampicillin buy online buy ciprofloxacin 500mg pill
generic forcan ciprofloxacin 1000mg uk buy cipro 500mg sale
cost sildenafil 100mg order estradiol 2mg pills estrace 1mg brand
metronidazole 400mg tablet buy flagyl 200mg sale buy cephalexin pill
purchase metronidazole for sale buy bactrim sale keflex uk
buy lamictal 200mg without prescription buy nemazole generic order vermox online cheap
buy generic clindamycin buy fildena 100mg without prescription order sildenafil 100mg
buy cleocin 300mg generic buy cleocin paypal ed pills that really work
tretinoin for sale buy tadalis pills avanafil pills
tamoxifen 10mg generic cheap rhinocort rhinocort without prescription
buy cheap tamoxifen order betahistine 16 mg pill symbicort online
tadalafil pill order tadalafil 10mg without prescription oral indomethacin 50mg
cefuroxime 250mg tablet purchase careprost for sale buy generic methocarbamol online
buy cefuroxime 250mg buy cheap generic lumigan oral robaxin 500mg
trazodone for sale online clindamycin brand
buy trazodone no prescription clindac a order online order generic clindac a
buy lamisil 250mg without prescription terbinafine online free slots online
order aspirin pills casino games free casino slots
aspirin cheap free casino money no deposit required casinos
buying an essay buy cefixime cefixime cheap
academicwriting academic writing support play online roulette for fun
essay helper online bonus casino online poker free
buy trimox 250mg buy arimidex 1 mg pill order clarithromycin
rocaltrol 0.25 mg cheap buy rocaltrol medication tricor 200mg us
order rocaltrol 0.25 mg online buy calcitriol 0.25mg sale order fenofibrate 160mg generic
buy catapres 0.1mg sale meclizine tablet where to buy tiotropium without a prescription
prescription medication for severe acne maximum strength acne medication purchase trileptal pills
oral medication for cystic acne generic trileptal buy trileptal 600mg generic
oral minocycline 50mg buy minocin online order ropinirole 2mg generic
oral uroxatral 10mg heart burn prescription heartburn medicines over the counter
buy alfuzosin 10 mg for sale best allergy medicine without antihistamine how to cure gerd immediately and permanently
online doctor for insomnia online doctor weight loss medication approved weight loss injections
strongest natural sleeping pills weight pills that really work mexican pills to lose weight
buy femara 2.5 mg online cheap aripiprazole 30mg sale order abilify pill
prescribed drug to quit smoking new medication for quitting smoking buy painkillers without an rx
non prescription smoking cessation products order pain meds online legally buy medication online without
buy medroxyprogesterone hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg tablet microzide 25mg sale
drugs to treat genital herpes cheapest steroid inhaler for asthma how to reverse prediabetes quickly
herpes medication without insurance recent diabetic drug commercial new diabetes drugs 2023
periactin where to buy buy generic fluvoxamine over the counter ketoconazole 200mg ca
best antifungal pills suppressive medication for genital herpes how to lower blood pressure instantly in 10 mins
fungus clear solution products suppression therapy for herpes 2 most effective blood pressure medicine
duloxetine 20mg for sale buy duloxetine 20mg online cheap provigil for sale
liquid medication for stomach ulcer drugs that cause peptic ulcers bacteria most common in uti
duodenal thickening causes examples of antiarrhythmic drugs bacterial infection of the urinary tract
order promethazine 25mg pills buy promethazine no prescription ivermectin cream
buy pills online increase sperm volume pills tadalafil side effects with alcohol
no copay birth control does medical cover birth control prescription medication for premature ejaculation
prednisone 10mg brand prednisone 10mg uk brand amoxicillin 500mg
heartburn medication that works fast names of anti nausea medication medicine for excessive farting
medication gastrointestinal disorders drug that makes you vomit pills that make you fart
buy azithromycin for sale cost neurontin 600mg buy gabapentin 100mg online cheap
urso for sale bupropion pill buy cetirizine 10mg generic
order actigall 150mg sale zyrtec 5mg without prescription buy zyrtec for sale
strattera generic buy strattera for sale buy sertraline cheap
buy strattera 25mg sale how to get sertraline without a prescription sertraline without prescription
furosemide 40mg over the counter lasix order online buy albuterol 4mg without prescription
lexapro tablet order sarafem 40mg order revia 50 mg
lexapro price naltrexone 50 mg for sale cost revia 50mg