Tirade against Jang, Geo protested
LAHORE: A large number of journalists on Wednesday staged a protest in front of the Punjab Assembly against the baseless accusations leveled on the Jang group of newspapers and Geo TV by senior PPP minister Raja Riaz.
Civil society members, lawyers and people from all walks of life participated in the protest. The protesters were holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans in support of freedom of expression and against such baseless accusations by the government officials.
They chanted slogans against the government and their policies against the media. They demanded of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to suspend the senior minister from his cabinet, as he has the authority to do this. They maintained that Raja Riaz, who had accused the Jang group journalists of being RAW agents, had no relation with the PPP of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.
They said late chairperson Benazir Bhutto encouraged Hamid Mir and other Jang group journalists to write the truth. The protesting journalists pledged that they would continue their protests till their demands were fulfilled.
The protesters staged a token sit-in in front of the Punjab Assembly gates where Lahore Press Club Vice President Amir Waqas, Geo Bureau Chief Khawar Naeem Hashmi, The News Chief Reporter Mayed Ali Zaidi, MPA Khurram Gulfam, Ejaz Maqbool and other prominent journalists addressed the protestors. They said such acts of tyranny and suppression could not deter the media from stating the truth and any bar on journalism and the freedom of expression will be dealt with strictly. The demonstrators demanded that Raja Riaz should come out of the Punjab Assembly and officially apologise for his irresponsible statements and abstain from such actions in future.
Source: The News
Date:10/21/2010
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