Pledging their wholehearted support and expressing solidarity with the Geo TV network and Jang Group, Punjab Jamaat-e-Islami General Secretary Nazir Ahmed Janjua and Farooq Chohan expressed solidarity with the Geo/Jang Group workers and their families.

Janjua said despite a 56-day ban on it, the Geo TV was still the best and his favourite channel. He said it was quite strange that Federal Minister Khawaja Asif was calling Geo an-anti Pakistan channel despite singing praises for it for years.

Jang Workers Union Senior Executive Body Member Malik Phul Bahar said it was the responsibility of the governments to provide livelihood to the people instead of snatching it. He said the government was taking away the livelihood of thousands of families belonging to the Geo and Jang Group.

PPP leader Shahida Jabeen, human rights leader Chaudhry Naseer Ahmed, Zubair Bokhari from Canada, Iftikhar Shahid Advocate, Abdullah Mailk, Nasir Jalib, Maryam Zulfiqar, Arif Zafar, Mohammed Yasin and others also spoke.

The speakers demanded the government take immediate steps to resume the Geo transmission since the Geo News is not only the biggest and bravest national channel but also the harbinger of positive change in the society.

The News

The draft of the bill bearing signatures of JI MNAs Sahibzada Tariqullah, Sahibzada Muhammad Yaqoob, Sher Akbar and Ayesha Syed is aimed at providing protection to lives of journalists in field, workplaces and at their residences.

The bill says that there is need for a proper legislation for solution of problems being faced by the journalist community.According to the bill, the government would also be responsible for arranging special security to journalists on their request. It says that concerned station house officer (SHO) would ensure provision of security to media persons and would be held responsible for any harm to the journalists.

The bill also provides for establishment of ‘National Journalists Council’ which would give recommendations from time to time for devising a mechanism for protection of the journalist community and their families.

The News