Removal of curbs on electronic media demanded
KARACI-H, Feb 14: Fomer chief justice of Pakistan Dr Nasim Hasan Shah has said freedom of expression on the electronic media is a fundamental human right which the citizens of Pakistan should not be denied.
Justice Shah, the chairman of Citizen’s Media Commission (CMC), was presiding over a roundtable on “Freedom of expression on the air waves (radio and TV),” organized by the CMC, to commemorate “Electronic Media Freedom Day” at a local hotel on Sunday.
A resolution “10 steps to electronic media freedom in Pakistan” was also adopted by the conference highlighting the principle that freedom of expression is an inalienable human right that should be available to all the citizens in all the media instead of the existing practice under which it is available only in the independent press and not available on radio and TV.
It was the consensus of the conference that the content of the news coverage of the government and the opposition and other events on the electronic media would be monitored periodically and would be circulated in the form of some publication.
Justice Shah, in his remarks, pointed out that the people in Pakistan had a low level of access to the mass media. For example, even in the case of radio, which requires no literacy to enable access and is a relatively low-cost medium, there are only 888 radios for 1,000 people, which is one of the lowest in the world.
“Similarly for other media as well, such as newspapers, TV, and cinema, access levels are notably lower. Less than 25 people in every 1,000 in Pakistan read newspapers as against 57 in Egypt and 31 in Zimbabwe. Only about two to three people in every 100 in Pakistan own a TV set whereas 27 people in every 100 in Yemen have a TV set and the figure for Vietnam is 100 per cent,” he said.
He said the fundamental rights of the citizens of Pakistan as enshrined in the Constitution were impressive. For instance in Article 3 (elimination of exploitation), Article 4 (right of individuals to be dealt with in accordance with law, Article 18 (freedom of trade, business or profession), Article 19 (freedom of speech and freedom of the press), Article 25 (equality of citizens) and Article 38A (preventing concentration of wealth and means of production). But these have not contributed to improvement in the quality of life or the standard of living of the masses. In some measures, governmental and private monopolies created in the print and electronic media are responsible for this lamentable state of affairs.
Justice Shah said freedom of the electronic media had a direct and potent relationship with democratic governance because this media, when truly free and independent of governmental control, enabled participants’ articulation and representation of people’s viewpoints.
“In Pakistan radio and TV have always been under the rigid control of government and driven by narrow personal and party interests. As a result governance has also remained narrow and exclusive, being confined to perpetuating the interests of the party in power. This state of affairs makes it all the more imperative to liberate the PTV and the PBC from government’s political control and to make them autonomous,” he asserted.
Javed Jabbar, the convener of the CMC, in his closing remarks, said eternal vigilance was the price for any freedom. Government monopoly over the telecommunication sector and the electronic media was against the very spirit of democracy which calls for checks and balance.
Referring to the high cost of TV and newspapers, he said there was a need to rationalize the price of newspapers and TV sets so that the common man could also afford them.
He said Our radio and television are held as hostage and there is a need to liberate them from governmental control. For this purpose, demonstrations should be organized outside the stations to build pressure for turning them into independent organizations.”
He also stressed the need for setting up more TV channels in the private sector.
Earlier, Javed Jabbar, who is also the secretary-general of Millat Party, introduced the commission followed by discussion by the participants.
Some of the participants, Sultan Abroad, Burhanuddin Hasan, Karim Bakhsh Khalid, Safdar Barlas, Mazhar Abbas, Sher Mohammed Khawar, Mehnaz Rehman, Safia Rashid, Zaheer Qidwai and others, made valuable suggestions and observations to highlight the importance of autonomy and revolution in communication technology.
Source: Dawn
Date:2/15/1999
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