Joint meeting of APNS, CPNE, PFUJ and PBA
Emergency hurts free press,freedom of expression, say media bodies
KARACHI: A joint meeting of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE), the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) was held here to consider the present state of press freedom in the country.
The meeting was attended by President and Secretary-General APNS, Hameed Haroon and Muhammad Aslam Kazi, President and Secretary-General CPNE, Syed Fasieh Iqbal and Wamiq Zuberi, President and Secretary-General PBA, Salman Iqbal and Syed Sarfaraz Husain Shah and Shamim-ur-Rahman of the PFUJ. It adopted the following declaration:
“We, the All Pakistan Newspapers Society, the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors, the Pakistan Broadcasters Association and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists believe that imposition of emergency on November 3, 2007, and the suspension of fundamental rights, consequent upon such imposition, have wreaked heavy damage on the existing structures for sustaining free press and of freedom of expression in Pakistan, freedoms, which are enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution. Additionally, the suspension of writ jurisdiction and the denial of access to courts against coercive actions by the executive against the press have put the cause of free press back by two decades in Pakistan.
The State and President Pervez Musharraf’s administration have relied essentially on three policy tools to accomplish the gagging of press since the imposition of emergency.
1- All television channels were initially suspended and a vast number of them have been required to sign an undertaking and/or a modified Code of Ethics that renders them vulnerable to the most arbitrary and draconian forms of executive action without effective judicial recourse under the emergency laws.
2- The promulgation of two new black ordinances — the Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration Amendment Ordinance 2007 and the PEMRA Amendment Ordinance 2007 — are designed to ensure that while the electronic media and the independent channels can be switched off at short notice or taken off air, the print media is in no position to offer support or even seek legal redress as a corrective action to such draconian measures. The continuing ban on the four channels of Geo along with one ARY channel have been utilised to serve as a chilling reminder to any newspaper or television channel that attempts to oppose the state of affairs.
3- Brutal doses of violence meted out to protesting journalists across the country, in Karachi on Tuesday, in Faisalabad on Wednesday, are ugly reminders of how far the government is prepared to go to maintain a repressive climate for the Pakistani media. The gory scenes of violence and physical intimidation that have been prohibited from broadcast by television licensees and in photographs, which have been prohibited for publication in newspapers in Pakistan under the two new black laws are instead finding their fullest expression in real life on the streets of Pakistan as the police and security forces go on rampage against them. The trend initiated with the attack by the security forces on Geo television in Islamabad in March 2007 has now become a frequent tool of state repression, a trend that needs to be curtailed immediately.
The present state of affairs is no longer tolerable. It appears that enlightened attempts to persuade this administration to change its course of persecution of press and substitute it instead with a policy of dialogue and persuasion now stand only a remote chance of success. If the number of suspended channels that have gone back on air has been considered a success story for constructive engagement, it is also true to say that a massive failure remains. Two of the most important news channels in Pakistan i.e. Geo news and ARY One World still remain off the air while three entertainment channels of the Geo group – Geo entertainment, Geo Super and Aag – have also not been restored on air by the government. It is also feared that consequent upon a total ban on government advertisements in Geo’s sister newspaper, Jang and the remaining publications in group, the newspapers of this group may be the next target of the government, if confrontation continues.
We, having deliberated the situation at length, have come up with the following program of action:
We urge President Musharraf and interim-Prime Minister Muhammadmian Soomro and the interim-Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Nisar Memon to act upon the unanimous demand of four bodies that together represent the whole media — both electronic and print — in Pakistan:
1- As a pre-requisite, we insist that ban on two channels belonging to Geo group i.e. Geo Entertainment and Aag may be lifted as a
Confidence-Building Measure (CBM) for the talks that will ensue between representatives of media bodies and government.
2- A second CBM before the talks requires the total lifting of ban on government advertisements placed in the publications of the Jang group of newspapers to allow a sense of confidence in media to be restored when negotiations ensue immediately
Hereafter the aim of such negotiations will be to lift the ban on Geo News, Geo Super and ARY One World channels, which are still off the air as of this meeting.
3- A withdrawal of black amendments to the two press laws imposed on the beginning of the Emergency to allow normalcy to prevail in the media.
4- An immediate review and withdrawal of all FIRs that have been instituted against journalists involved in recent agitation on the above mentioned matters.
Finally, in addition to the above agenda and plan of action to be tackled by the Government of Pakistan, the four press organisations expressed complete dismay at the delay by Dubai Media City in restoring the two Pakistani news channels in violation of all internationally accepted norms of business. They also urged the UAE government to reconsider the policy shift with respect to the functioning of Dubai Media City and intend to communicate to all important press right organisations and International Chamber of Commerce against the relinquishment of fair business and free media practices.”
Meanwhile, a delegation of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) and Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) visited Geo News office on Tuesday and expressed their unity and reaction on the closure of Geo Network channels.
President APNS Hameed Haroon, Secretary General Qazi Muhammad Aslam and Joint Secretary Syed Sarmad Ali were included in the delegation. President CPNE Fasih Iqbal, Senior Vice President Jabbar Khatak, Vice President Jawaid Hashmi, Secretary General Wamiq Zubairi met with CEO Geo Mir Ibrahim Rehman, President Imran Aslam and Ghazi Salahuddin.
Mir Ibrahim Rehman and Imran Aslam gave details about the shutting down of Geo network channels and also informed about the closure of Geo network entertainment channels “Geo TV”, “Geo Super” and “Aag” without any reason.
The delegation showed its concern over the situation and demanded that electronic and print media should be free and all channels should be restored as soon as possible.
APNS executive committee members Qazi Asad Abid, Anwer Farooqui, Inqilab Matri, executive director Dr Tanweer A Tahir, and Masood Hamid were also included in the APNS delegation.
The CPNE delegation also included Finance Secretary Mushtaq Qureshi and Aamir Mehmood. The delegation also condemned the torture by police on peaceful journalists and their arrest. Later, APNS and CPNE delegation also visited ARY One World office.
Source: The News
Date:11/22/2007
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