Freedom of Expression | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) | Page 29

Pakistan Press Foundation

Freedom of expression and democracy

By: Malik Muhammad Ashraf Our nation has suffered enough at the hands of self-styled saviours and proponents of unconstitutional remedies to fix the maladies afflicting the system John Wilkes, a radical and popular politician of London, a journalist and pioneer of freedom of the press in Britain during the 18th century, writing in the first […]


Militancy strikes: Blast near DVD shop, mosque kills 10 in Orakzai

Pakistan Press Foundation

HANGU: Ten people were killed and another 26 were wounded on Friday when a bomb exploded near a shop selling DVDs in the lower Orakzai Agency – an area that the military claims to have cleared of Taliban fighters. The attack happened in Kalaya, the main town of Orakzai Agency where the military has been […]


Human Rights Watch launches campaign against media

By: Ahmad Noorani ISLAMABAD: Human Rights Watch (HRW), the leading human rights organisation of the world, has launched an offensive against the media instead of responding to journalistic criticism by ‘The News’ on its World Report-2013. HRW director in Pakistan Ali Dayan Hasan, in different media interactions, instead of elaborating the points of HRW World […]


The price of a misleading headline

By: Mazhar Abbas “Balach ko apni zameen bhi nahi mili” was the misleading headline ‘given’ to an article written by senior columnist Abdus Salam, alias Dr Chishti Mujahid, printed in the country’s leading Urdu weekly, Akhbar-e-Jehan, at the death of Baloch nationalist leader Mir Balach Marri. This headline eventually resulted in the murder of Dr […]


PPF Protests death threats to Editor of Sanghu weekly in Nepal

Pakistan Press Foundation has expressed concern over the death threats to Gopal Thapaliya, editor of the Sanghu weekly over a news report on corruption in the capital city, Kathmandu. Quoting information from Freedom Forum, PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali in a letter to the Prime Minister of Nepal, Thapaliya was threatened by an unknown […]


Lift the ban on YouTube

Pakistan Press Foundation

By: Rafay Mahmood KARACHI: The government’s ban on video-sharing website YouTube has been protested on Twitter and Facebook time and again by everyone from ordinary citizens to journalists and musicians in the past four months. While most have tried to live a life without YouTube — either by using Vimeo and Dailymotion — or around […]


PPF Protests detention on blogger and fine on activist

Pakistan Press Foundation

Pakistan Press Foundation has expressed concern over the 15 days of administrative detention of Emin Milli, blogger and 2,500 AZN(2.348 EUR) fine on youth activist Turgut Gambar for Facebook activity. Quoting information from Expression Online Coalition (EOC), PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali in a letter to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the […]


Journalist implicated in murder case, being hounded

KARACHI: A journalist has allegedly been implicated in an honour killing case by a powerful tribe to punish him for raising the issue of domestic abuse and murder of a woman who had been declared Kari. According to the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) the victim, Sikandar Bhutto, is in hiding and the alleged killers […]


To be a journalist in Pakistan

By: Samira Shackle It is sometimes a surprise to outsiders — expecting censorship and oppression — that Pakistan has such a free and vibrant media. Speaking in 2010, the political theorist Noam Chomsky remarked that Pakistan’s media was less censored than in neighbouring India, generally described as the world’s largest democracy. “In Pakistan, I listened […]


Media freedom part of Pakistan People’s Party manifesto: Kaira

Pakistan Press Foundation

DINGA: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira on Sunday said that the PPP would seek people’s votes on the basis of its manifesto. Speaking after administering oath to the newly elected office-bearers of Media Council here, Kaira said the PPP-led government had launched several development projects in the country which were the […]


CD shops blown up in Nowshera

Pakistan Press Foundation

NOWSHERA: Six Compact Disc (CD) shops were blown up in Sherin Kotay in the limits of Risalpur Police Station early Saturday, sources said. The sources said that explosive devices planted by unidentified persons at the market went off early in the day, destroying six shops. About 10 suspected persons were arrested during search operation after […]


Slain journalist’s wife given Rs1m cheque

By: Saleem Shahid QUETTA: Chief Secretary of Balochistan Babar Yaqoob Fateh gave a cheque of Rs1 million to the widow of Abdul Haq Baloch on behalf of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Saturday. Abdul Haq Baloch, the general secretary of the Khuzdar Press Club, was working for ARY TV channel when he was gunned […]


Security forces allowing extremists to attack minorities: Human Rights Watch

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD: The Human Rights Watch has accused the government of having failed to act against abuses committed by security and intelligence agencies which are letting extremist groups to attack religious minorities. “The authorities did little to address attacks against journalists and human rights defenders, and committed serious abuses in counter-terrorism operations,” the HRW said in […]


The mighty heart in person – Mariane Pearl

By: Farahnaz Zahidi Daniel Pearl was murdered this day, eleven years ago. Here, his wife talks about him, about Pakistan, about Malala, and about how she has managed to stay “the same person”. BARCELONA: “Hi. I’m Mariane Pearl,” she says, introducing herself to a room full of journalists from the world over attending a Reuters […]