Journalists express solidarity with Geo
Under the protest plan announced by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), media people staged a sit-in outside the Jang offices on Sunday to register their protest and convey their messages to the ruling authorities.
The Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ), along with the media people belonging to Dawn group, and other media organisations, protested to show solidarity with the Geo staff, as, except for Geo television, all other private TV channels were back on the air though under certain conditions.
The protesting journalists wore black wrist armbands carrying placards inscribed with ‘Geo Aur Jeeney Do’, were chanting slogans in support for a free press and media. A small rally at the end of the Jang street was taken out with journalists chanting slogans against the Pemra Ordinance and demanding immediate restoration of Geo TV.
A four-day protest plan was also announced by Secretary Association of TV Journalists (ATJ), Faisal Aziz, according to which a four-hour protest camp, starting from 1pm till 5pm, will be organised at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Monday (today). The other press clubs of the country will also follow the programme.
The protest camps will sit till November 29 and this, it was believed, would muster up further momentum, said KUJ President, Shamim-ur-Rahman. According to him, the journalists’ movement will not stop even if Geo comes back on air, as, he said, the struggle will continue till ‘editorial contents’ of newspapers are free from military domain.
He emphatically stated that certain forces tried to destabilise the media’s movement but he warned higher authorities that any pressure tactics by the government would not minimise the journalists’ courage.
On the occasion, he assured the workers of Geo and Jang of all out cooperation on behalf of the community and said that they should not feel isolated, even though the government, while allowing other channels, tried to create a rift among the journalistsÂ’ community.
He further said that the government had to bow in front of the unity showed by the journalists’ community adding that they would not take dictation about what programme should be on air and which should not.
Sabihuddin Ghousi, President, KPC, speaking on the occasion, said that the struggle of media was not confined to one organisation. He said that they should collectively fight the restrictions imposed on the media, as, he felt, an attack on any one media organisation meant an attack on the entire community.
Rejecting violent behaviour in the peaceful movement, he appealed to all the people belonging to different segments of society, including lawyers, civil society organisations and doctors to participate in a protest of the media. He believed that this was not an issue solely confronting the people in the media, but was linked to society as a whole.
Imtiaz Faran, Secretary, KPC, said that the government had hatched a conspiracy by isolating Geo, while other TV transmissions were on air, but, the unity of community proved that they had failed in their attempt to divide journalists’ community.
Musharraf, he said, by clamping down on TV transmission had taken a step to render thousands jobless.
MUjeb-ur-Rehman, President, Pakistan Association of Press Photographers, said that the present government had rolled back the days to the time of the press and publication ordinance of 1963. Pointing out that the journalists had succesfully weathered that phase, he felt that this new threat would also be faced with courage and spirit.
Source: The News
Date:11/26/2007
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