PESHAWAR: Government firmly believes in freedom of press and freedom of expression and is fully aware of the importance of regional press as much as national newspapers and is striving for resolving their problems, said Principal Information Officer Mian Jehangir Iqbal.

He was talking to editors of local newspapers at a lunch hosted in his honour by Tahir Farooq, vice chairman of CPNE Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and chief editor of Daily Ittehad. Peshawar PID Director General Tariq Mahmood Khan and Deputy Director Shabidullah Wazir were also present.

Tahir Farooq welcomed Mian Jehangir Iqbal and threw light on the problems faced by the regional newspapers.

Iqbal said that the procedure of transparent distribution of government advertisements to the regional newspapers would begin for implementation next week and made it clear that no dummy newspaper would be given advertisements.

He emphasised that payments of government advertisements would directly be made to the newspapers saying that there is complete harmony among information minister, secretary information and PIO in this respect.

The PIO also made it clear that controversial payments would in no case be made against any claim.

Iqbal asked the editors and owners of the newspapers to submit in time their suggestions on government new advertisement policy to avoid any confusion towards this end.

He said that CPNE had already given their recommendations on proposed advertisement policy to the government.

The Express Tribune 

KARACHI: The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) hosted a reception for the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Karachi Press Club and Karachi Union of Journalists to express its gratitude and hail their enthusiastic participation in its recent protest rally in front of the Sindh Assembly building in Karachi against payment of outstanding dues to newspapers in Sindh through ill reputed and defaulter advertising agencies facing NAB cases instead of direct payment to newspapers.

Those participated among a large number of journalists were Ahmad Khan Malik, G M Jamali, Faheem Siddiqui, Imtiaz Faran, Sohail Afzal, Ajiz Jamali, Saeed Sarbazi, Tariq Abul Hassan, Hassan Abbas, Hamidur Rehman and Sohail Jan Baloch.

Also present from CPNE were Aijazul Haq, Ghulam Nabi Chandio, Tahir Najmi, Maqsood Yousufi, Abdul Khalique Ali, Abdul Rahman Mangrio, Sher Muhammad, Khawar Adnan Malik, Bashir Ahmad Memon, Hamid Hussain Abidi, Mian Tariq Javed, Usman Arab Sati, Saeed Khawar, Muhammad Tahir, Anwar Sajidi, Aamir Khattak, Hasina Jatoi and Hamida Ghanghro and several other editors.

Speaking on the occasion CPNE Secretary General Dr Jabbar Khattak expressed his gratitude to office bearers and members of joint action committee of the PFUJ, Karachi Press Club and Karachi Union of Journalists for their participation in the protest rally and said that the mutual solidarity of journalists organisations had stimulated the Sindh government to step up taking swift line of action towards immediate direct payment of outstanding dues to the newspapers.

He added that editors were playing the role of a bridge between the newspapers management and journalists. Dr Jabbar Khattak said that payment of salaries in time to media employees and other workers would be ensured after direct payments to the newspapers of Sindh adding that the protest rally was aimed at keeping in view the financial problem of the journalists and employees of the media organisations.

Ahmad Khan Malik, President of Karachi Press Club, said that despite attack on Karachi Press Club and non-payment of outstanding dues to the newspapers, the solidarity of all the media organisations and media workers demonstrated in the rally would strengthen their vigorous struggle to protect the fourth pillar of the state.

PFUJ President G M Jamali stressed the need for immediate payment of salaries to journalists and media employees after direct payment of outstanding dues was made by the Sindh government to the newspapers as he said the media employees were in the grip of mental torture, starvation and financial crisis due to non payment of their salaries.

PFUJ Secretary General Sohail Afzal was of the opinion that all the stakeholders of media could resolve their problems through mutual understanding and cooperation.

Karachi Union of Journalists General Secretary Faheem Siddiqui suggested that if the CPNE to play its role to settle disputes and resolve issues between the media management and employees, the media organisations would wholeheartedly support the CPNE as he said problems of media could be resolved through mutual solidarity and unity.

Maqsood Yousufi, the Karachi Press Club General Secretary and Member CPNE Standing Committee in his speech said that of late the rally proved as preface to the demonstration of unity of all media stakeholders. He was of the view of joint line of action of all the media stakeholders. Later, a sumptuous lunch was served for the participants.

The News

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ISLAMABAD: The All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) termed the draft of advertisement policy of the government as against the freedom of expression and tantamount to controlling and limiting the media freedom by killing small news outlets financially. It also said the new draft is aimed at subduing the freedom of expression to the government through centralisation

According to the statement, the APNS meeting on Monday was held to discuss the draft of the government’s advertisements’ policy. The Special Advisor to the PM, Iftikhar Durrani, attended the meeting at the APNS request. The president of the APNS, Hameed Haroon, Secretary General Sarmad Ali, Vice-President Mehtab Khan, Mujeeb ur Rehman Shami, Rameeza Majeed Nazami and others expressed their reservations over the draft. The Adviser to the PM, Iftikhar Durrani, assured the APNS that the government would take all possible steps for the progress of the media and to safeguard the freedom of expression. On this account, he added that all concerns of the newspapers and magazines would be addressed through mutual understanding. He said the draft was only forwarded to the APNS to elicit their opinion which would only be finalised after mutual consultations.

President APNS Hameed Haroon, Vice-President Mehtab Khan, Secretary General Sarmad Ali, Joint-Secretary Bilal Mehmood, Finance Secretary Waseem Ahmed, Mumtaz A Tahir (Daily Aftab), Rehmat Ali Raazi (Weekly Azm/Daily Taqat), Humayun Tariq (Daily Business Report, Faisal), Naveed Chaudhry (Daily City 42), Syed Akbar Tahir ( Daily Jasarat), Javed Mehr Shamsi (Daily Kaleem), Abdul Jabbar (Daily Kawish), Syed Ayaz Badshah (Daily Mashriq Peshawar), Syed Mumtaz Ahmed Shah (Daily Mashriq Quetta), Sardar Khan Niazi (Monthly Nea Rukh), Rukhsana Saulat Saleemi (Weekly Nikhar), Syed Muhammad Munir Jillani (Daily Paigham), and Gohar Zahid Malik (Daily Pakistan Observer) attended the meeting.

The News 

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BBC Urdu reported that police in the provincial capital of Quetta had filed a First Information Report, or complaint, on Wednesday against at least seven Baluch dailies and Pakistani journalists and publishers in connection with their publication of a statement by the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group. Reports said the statement was in relation to a suicide bombing but did not offer further details. The complaint named dailies Qudrat, Bakhabar, Zamana, Jang, Mashriq, Express and Intekhab as some of the defendants. Reports did not immediately identify the names of any journalists or publishers.

Last month, another complaint was also filed against four of the papers–Jang, Mashriq, Express, and Intekhab–for publishing a statement by Jaish-ul-Islam, a Sunni militant group accused of carrying out attacks against Shias in Baluchistan. In the statement, the group claimed responsibility for killing a police officer, reports said.

The defendants can face charges under Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act, which prohibits the “…printing, publishing, or disseminating of any material … that glorifies terrorists or terrorist activities, incites religious, sectarian or ethnic hatred, or gives projection to any person … or organization concerned in terrorism,” according to news reports.

“Pakistan’s anti-terror law effectively criminalizes reporting on vital issues of public interest,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Journalists in Baluchistan already work under tremendous pressure and should not face the additional burden of prosecution under a vague and sweeping statute.”

The defendants can also face charges that include contempt of court for disregarding a provincial high court’s decision that forbids news outlets from publishing or broadcasting statements by banned militant groups, reports said. In October, Pakistan’s Supreme Court upheld the provincial court’s decision.

The Baluch press work in a dangerous climate, under pressure to report in line with the views of several elements, including pro-Taliban groups, security forces, and intelligence agencies, as well as Baluch separatists and state-sponsored anti-separatist militant groups. CPJ research shows that journalists in Baluchistan are threatened for not publishing statements made by militant groups.

A hearing for the case has been scheduled for May 30, reports said.

Committee to Protect Journalists