‘Stand up for press freedom’
“We believe that the freedom of press is not just confined to allowing the TV channels, FM radio, online outlets and the print media to operate. In fact, as long as these organisations are unable to exercise complete control of the editorial content and have the freedom to decide which programme will go on air, the freedom of press will be a farce,” says senior journalist and president of the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ), Shamim-ur-Rahman. Furthermore, since the freedom of the press can only be guaranteed in a democratic dispensation and constitutional rule, “our struggle is also aimed at the lifting of the emergency, restoration of the Constitution and other institutions that were targeted after the proclamation of emergency,” he adds.
Born on July 4, 1941, in Patna (India), Rahman is the only child of his parents. He was only three years old when his father, Anees-ur-Rahman, died, after which he was brought up by his maternal grandmother. “We flew from Calcutta to Karachi in August 1947 when Pakistan came into being. I was six at that time, but I still vividly remember the slaughtering of human beings though I did not know whether they were Muslims or Hindus,” says Rahman. After arriving in Karachi, he was admitted to St Jufelhurst School, but after the first standard, he was enrolled in the Pak High School. He passed his matriculation examinations as a private candidate and then joined the S.M. Arts College in 1959.
Shamim-ur-Rahman was an activist of the left-wing students’ organisation, the National Students Federation (NSF), and was thrown out from the college when as many as 12 NSF leaders, popularly known as ‘bara imam,’ were expelled from Karachi due to their anti-government activities during the Ayub era. Later, he did his graduation from the Islamia College in 1963 and earned his Master’s degree in International Relations in 1965.
While Rahman was a student at the University of Karachi (KU), he joined the Pakistan Press International (PPI) as a reporter. In 1966 he joined the Islamia College as a lecturer of International Relations and also continued his job at the PPI.
In 1969, he joined the Business Recorder, where he worked for a while, and later opted for The Sun newspaper, which was considered one of the most exciting newspapers of the time. Rahman simultaneously worked for a German organisation, the Asian Television Service, in which the Pakistan Television (PTV) had a stake. When the Germans left Pakistan in the wake of the East Pakistan debacle in 1971, the Asian Television Service was merged with PTV and as a result, Rahman became an employee of the latter. Rahman also has the distinction of establishing the AFP bureau in Karachi in 1968. He joined Dawn in 1993 where he still continues to work.
With his long experience in the print and electronic media and his association with the NSF, Rahman is quite vocal about the rights of the journalists, but believes that a harmonious relationship between the media workers and management is essential to make the media viable and vibrant. This can only be achieved if the media workers are paid well. “We believe that the media workers and the owners are two wheels of the same chariot and they must work in harmony. Disharmony will dismember the chariot which is in nobody’s interest,” he adds.
Rahman was among 180 Karachi journalists, who were arrested while protesting against the draconian press laws outside the Karachi Press Club on November 20.
Source: The News
Date:11/29/2007
” 
” 
” 
” 
” 
