Journalists say enough is enough
ISLAMABAD: After showing long patience, the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists has finally decided to hold a series of protest rallies against the “anti-media” policies of the incumbent regime.
Continued killings and abductions of journalists all over Pakistan, baseless allegations leveled by some PPP leaders against senior journalists in the recent past and reports about upcoming operation against some TV channels have forced RIUJ to organize a series of peaceful demonstrations in front of parliament house Islamabad, beginning at 3 pm on Nov 1, just before the new sessions of NA and Senate.
The decision to come out on the roads against the government was taken at a joint meeting of RIUJ and APNEC held in Islamabad on Sunday. RIUJ President Ashfaq Sajid and President of the local chapter of APNEC Qurban Satti addressed the meeting and announced that they would also observe November 3 as black day because former dictator Pervez Musharraf imposed an emergency and banned many TV channels on that day in 2007. Ashfaq Sajid said the PPP-led government is unfortunately following in the footsteps of Musharraf and not realizing that RIUJ staged non-stop demonstrations against Musharraf for 72 days.
He said Musharraf was more powerful than the current government and if we resisted and defeated Musharraf we can also resist and defeat the new rulers. He demanded that culprits involved in attacks on “The News” reporter Umer Cheema, ARY reporter Raja Saqib and attackers on a Dunya TV team in Lahore must be arrested, PPP leaders must stop a campaign against some senior journalists and TV channels “otherwise we will be forced to come out against the government all over the country.”
RIUJ President reminded the PPP leadership that journalists honoured all the members of the parliamentary committee by awarding them shields in the National Press Club because they finalized and passed the 18th Amendment. “We believe in democracy but we will not allow anyone to impose another dictatorship on us in the name of democracy.”
Source: The News
Date:11/1/2010
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