Journalist bodies walk out on government over bid to mute dissent
ISLAMABAD: Registering a strong protest against what is believed to be a blatant attempt to curb freedom of expression through a controversial ordinance, representatives of media and journalist organisations on Monday walked out from a meeting with officials of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and vowed not to hold any further engagement with the ministry until its withdrawal.
Hours after members of the media’s Joint Action Committee (JAC) walked out of the meeting, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) endorsed their position, announcing, “HRCP stands in solidarity with media for freedom of expression.”
Besides the strong stance adopted by the journalist fraternity and civil society, two major political parties of the country also objected to the move, describing the presidential ordinance as ‘unconstitutional’ and an attempt to ‘stifle the voice of dissent’.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also vowed to challenge the ordinance before the court of law.
Talking to Dawn, JAC member and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) president Shahzada Zulfiqar said that before staging the walkout, they told the information minister that the government had breached their trust by promulgating the ordinance only a day before their scheduled meeting.
Later, in a statement, the JAC called the engagement with the government a “farce” and announced that all discussions were being suspended until the ‘draconian amendments’ to Peca were reversed.
The JAC consists of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society, Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors, PFUJ, Pakistan Broadcasters Association and Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors.
“The information minister is toying with the media fraternity in the guise of engagement and keeps passing ordinances against freedom of speech while giving the impression that media fraternity is being engaged,” the JAC noted.
It stated: “There is a grave trail of examples where the ministry of information is tampering with freedom of speech, muzzling the journalists’ right to report, financially crippling media to influence journalism.”
Recalling that the fraternity had warned the government earlier as well against the dangerous trend that was creating a distance between the government and the public as well as media workers, the JAC stated: “All media bodies stand united to defend freedom of expression and people’s right to information.”
‘Undemocratic’ legislation
The HRCP deplored the new defamation law increased jail term for ‘criticism of the state’ by netizens from two to five years and made it a non-bailable offence.
“Not only is this legislation undemocratic, but it will also inevitably be used to clamp down on dissenters and critics of the government and state institutions,” observed the HRCP through its official Twitter handle.
“All government and state functionaries are reminded that they are accountable to citizens as elected representatives and public servants, respectively. It is their job to heed criticism. With other problematic laws in place to counter defamation, the proposed ordinance must be rolled back immediately,” the HRCP demanded.
Source: Dawn
Other Media Reports: The News, Business recorder
” 
” 
” 
” 
