Chanting slogans against Pemra and cable operators that are making mockery of the court orders, journalists continued their sit-in at the protest camps to give message to the incumbent government that it cannot defeat their commitment and dedication towards the supreme cause of protection of independence of press in the country.

The media persons pointed out that shutting down and pushing Geo News to the last numbers by the cable operators was a violation of Pemra rules but unfortunately the government was yet to take measures to rectify the situation that was depriving the viewers of their favourite channel.

They made an appeal to the viewers that if cable operators never restored all channels including Geo News to their original numbers then they would not pay their monthly bills as a protest against this illegal practice.

The protest camps have been set up in front of press clubs in various cities including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Larkana, Abbottabad, Muzaffarabad, Rahimyar Khan, Bahawalpur and Multan.

Addressing at the protest camp in front of National Press Club (NPC) Islamabad, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) president Afzal Butt said they would renew their commitment to the cause of freedom of press on July 5 as this day would be observed as a Black Day to pay tribute to the sacrifices of journalists who were flogged on May 13, 1978 including Masoodullah Khan, Nasir Zaidi, Khawar Naeem and Iqbal Jafferi.

He said journalists have a long history of sacrifices so the government should avoid adopting delaying tactics and accept their demands otherwise their protest movement for protection of freedom of press would continue till achievement of the set targets.

Senior journalist Nasir Zaidi said Geo News has completed its 15-day sentence then how can the cable operators block its transmission in violation of rules and procedures. “I ask the government whether it has any authority on Pemra and cable operators or both of them are free to do whatever they want,” he said.

Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) president Ali Raza Alvi said they would file a petition against Pemra and cable operators in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) as it was contempt of court to block transmission of Geo News and ARY Television despite the court orders for their restoration on the cable networks.

He called upon media persons to discharge their duties honestly by playing a positive role to point out irregularities within state institutions and provide direction to society.NPC president Shehryar Khan said tyrants and dictatorial rulers had always tried to curtail the freedom of the press so the present government should avoid following in their footsteps and look into the affairs of Pemra that is behaving like a “bull in the China shop”.

“I salute the journalists who always continue to carry out their professional duties despite facing hardships and even potential threats from various segments. The government can never ever defeat the resolve of committed journalists so it should immediately accept our demands otherwise our protest movement would move forward with more vigour and dedication,” he said.

Multan Press Club president Rauf Maan while addressing the protesting journalists in Multan said the government should prove that it believes in freedom of press and take effective measures to end discrimination towards some media houses especially Jang Group otherwise the journalists would put in all out efforts to protect their independence and freedom of speech.

Sukkur Press Club president Lala Asad Pathan said the history guides them that no government wants to give freedom of press because the rulers think it advisable to mute the voice of media to conceal their wrongdoings, adding, “We have achieved freedom of press through sacrifices and we would not hesitate to render more sacrifices for its protection.”

Our Sukkur correspondent adds: Unions of journalists in Sukkur, Khairpur, Shikarpur, Nausharoferoz, Ghotki and some other cities in Sindh took out protest rallies against non-restoration of Geo News transmission.

A protest rally, led by President of Sukkur Press Club, Lala Asad Pathan, and Jan Muhammad Mahar, President of Sukkur Union of Journalists, was taken out in Sukkur. The rally terminated at the Sukkur Press Club where leaders of journalists’ organizations addressed a sit-in and said that Pemra had illegally suspended the licence of Geo News.

They said that Pemra attempted to create anarchy in Pakistan by suspending the transmission of the channel.They also condemned torturing of journalists in Lahore by the police.They said that such orders of Pemra had been affecting thousands of employees of the news channel.They demanded restoration of Geo News transmission immediately. They also condemned the attack on Imdad Soomro, a reporter of Jang Group, by unidentified accused.

The News

The participants of the camp urged the government to lift the ban on the favourite channel and curbs on the largest media group of the country. A large number of journalists from print and electronic media, members of the civil society and representatives of the non-government organisations visited the camp set up by the Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) to express solidarity with the Jang Media Group.

The participants of the camp chanted slogans against the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) for blacking out the transmission of the most popular TV channel of the country.

Arshad Aziz Malik, Mahmood Jan Babar, Shamim Shahid, Farmanullah Jan, Tahir Hussain, Azeem Khan, Imdad Ali Qizilbash, Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz leader Arbab Khizer Hayat, Saima Munir of the Aurat Foundation and others turned up at the camp.

Speaking on the occasion, the participants resented closure of the Geo TV. They said that the suspension of the licence of the channel had deprived the viewers of watching their favourite channel.

They asked the journalist community to unite against the curbs on the channel. They said that other television channels would be targetted in future if the ban on the Geo channel was not resisted.

The speakers said that muzzling the press would pose a threat to the democratic system in the country. They said that Jang Media Group was the largest media group in the country and its workers rendered matchless sacrifices for freedom of the press.

They said the group suffered financial losses, but didn’t bow to any pressure and continued to disseminate authentic and correct information to its viewers and readers. The participants threatened to launch a countrywide protest if the ban on the Geo TV was not lifted.

The News

The participants of the camp chanted slogans against the discriminatory decision of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) that suspended the transmission of the most popular TV channel of the country for 15 days.

Arshad Aziz Malik, Mahmood Jan Babar, Sharif Mohmand, Munir Khan Afridi, Imdad Ali Qizalbash, Khalid Kheshgi, Shahzad Anjum, Muhammad Nauman, Shiba Haider, Musawir, Haris Khan, and Peshawar High Court Bar General Secretary Ayaz Khan were among the participants.

Speaking on the occasion, the participants flayed the curbs on the media. They were critical of the government and quarters concerned for their failure to nab those who attacked senior journalists Hamid Mir, Zafar Aheer.

They said the accused, who torched Jang vehicles and thousands of copies of The News and Daily Jang, could not be rounded up yet. They made it clear that their strike would continue for 15 days. They said they would start a countrywide protest campaign on the call of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists if the curbs were not lifted against the group.

The News

The protesters said the government backed-Pemra had punished the Geo News unheard that was unlawful and against the all norms of justice. They said such a decision form an acting chairman-led Pemra depicted the government’s intention towards the freedom of media as Pervez Rathore, who ordered the suspension of the Geo News for 15 days, had served Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as his personal staff officer in 1999.

Carrying banners and placards inscribed with anti-Pemra, anti-Rathore and anti-government slogans, the protesters gathered outside Jang/Geo offices on the Davis Road to condemn the decision. They expressed their solidarity with injured anchorperson Hamid Mir and workers and journalists of the Geo/Jang Group. They condemned burning of vehicles and copies of daily Jang and The News in different cities of the country.

PPP workers including PPP’s lawyer Forum, Awami Workers Party, Civil Society Network Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami and representatives of journalists’ bodies including Punjab Union of Journalist, Lahore Press Club and Federal Union of Journalists participated in the demonstration.

The speakers said the government and ‘hidden hands’ wanted to squeeze the independence of media and freedom of expression but their dreams would not come true as the journalists community along with other segments of the society would foil any such move. They said the government should have acted as neutral player in the whole issue but the recent decision of the Pemra exposed the government which muzzled the most popular channel of the country.

The participants included Abdullah Malik, president, Civil Society Network Pakistan, senior journalists including Khawar Naeem Hashmi, Wasif Nagi, Maqsood Butt, Gohar Butt, general secretary of Jang Workers Union, Waseem Babar, president, Jang Workers Union, Rukhsana Nazli, Bedar Bakht Butt, Waheed Butt, Khalid Farooqi, Senior Vice President, PFUJ, Ijaz Mirza, Arif Zafar, Shahid Ch of PFUJ, Akbar Jatoi, Asim Hussain, Khalid Khattak, Shahid Aslam, Asher Butt, Amer Malik, Farhat Abbas Shah, Farha Zia, Mahmood Ahmed, Ameen Hafeez, Rasheed Ali, Ijaz Manzoor, Jawwad Malik, Nadeem Zia, Zahid Ahmed, Fahira Tehreem, Zahid Ali Khan, Muneer Khokhar, Sharafat Ali, Rabnawaz Khan, Rana Shahid, Muhammad Ali Zafar, Raja Arsalan Khan, Muhammad Shafique Ahmed, Tariq Jamal, Mirza Naseer Baig, Azhar Maqbool, Irfan Nazir, Sohail Imran, Idrees Tabassum of Pak-India Forum, Shahida Butt, Hizar Hayat Gondal, Muhammad Babar, Sabir Awan, Adil Khokhar, Siraj Qadri, Muhammad Hussain, Salman Rasool, Saeed Aziz, Tahir Saleem, Sohail Butt, Imdad Qureshi, Sohail Ahmed, SM Aqeel, Akmal Bhatti, Ghalib Abbas, Awais Malik, Usman Saleem, Zainulabedin and Naeem Sarfraz.

Bedar Bakht Butt said the curtailment of media meant derailment of democracy, adding that the illegal act of the Pemra was not acceptable to journalists and people of Pakistan. He said it was the media which fought dictators in the lawyers movement as majority of the politicians remained aloof of the movement until it succeeded. He said democratic forces should keep in mind that if hidden forces curtailed the media independence, democracy would be in danger as well.

Maqsood Butt said the Pemra decision was illegal and Geo/Jang workers would not accept it. He said the Geo News was punished only for raising truth, demanding justice and projecting the rule of law for everyone in the country. He said culprits who attacked Hamid Mir were still at large, which was a sign of serious concern for the whole journalists community. He said all conspiracies against the Geo/Jang Group would be foiled with the collective effort of the workers and the journalists community.

Waseem Babar said the Pemra decision was tantamount to rubbing salt into the wounds of Jang/Geo workers protesting for the last 45 days against the illegal suspension of the Geo TV network across Pakistan. He said Geo/Jang workers were ready for every kind of sacrifice to defend the largest and most independent media group. He said protests would be staged outside the Chief Minister’s House, Governor’s House and then a long march would be held towards Islamabad. He announced that on Monday (today) Jang workers would offer arrests against the Geo suspension.

Abdullah Malik said the Geo News was punished through a planned conspiracy. He said time had come for the journalists to identify and throw out all black sheep which were destroying the very purpose of journalism. He said the Geo/Jang workers had rendered great sacrifices for Pakistan, democracy and independence of media and again were fighting for the freedom of media. He said the whole nation was standing with Hamid Mir and the Geo/Jang Group as some ‘hidden hands’ wanted to curb the largest media house of the country for their vested interests.

Sirajul Haq Qadri said the Geo/Jang Group was a family of over 50,000 employees and they would defend it against all illegal acts. He said the Geo News made a mistake but shutting down the channel and Jang Group newspapers was not a solution to the whole issue as many made mistakes in the past in this country. “When the Geo News has rendered an unconditional apology, the matter should have been over”. According to Qadri, acts like suspending a TV channel earn a bad name for the country.

According to Ijaz, those Mullahs, who are issuing sermons against the Geo/Jang Group, should have pity on the nation. He said the Geo/Jang Group was a voice of the nation and no one could stop it from informing people about what was right and wrong. He said those who suspended the Geo News were not well-wishers of the nation as they aimed at depriving a large number of people of their fundamental right to information and entertainment. He said by blocking the Geo/Jang Group, thousands of employees of the largest media group and their families would be affected.

Ijaz said it was strange that persons like Mubashir Lucman were shouting against the Geo/Jang Group, independent judiciary and democracy, adding that such so-called anchors even did not know the basics of journalism. He asked why actions against persons like Lucman were not being taken by the Pemra as such persons have maligned and ridiculed sitting judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Farooq Chohan condemning the ban on the Geo News demanded that the political role of secret agencies should be stopped so that media, judiciary and political leadership could get ‘real’ independence. He alleged that agencies wanted to bring the Bangladesh model to Pakistan through such conspiracies but the Pakistani nation had become aware of such acts and would foil any such move. He said they would not allow the government and ‘hidden hands’ to curtail the media independence at any pretext.

The News

The protesters, carrying banners, placards in favour the Geo/Jang Group, and terming the ban on Geo against fundamental rights, said that any such action would be tantamount to economic murder of around 50,000 workers of the largest media house.

Among the prominent persons who attended the protest were senior journalists Nasrullah Malik, Khawar Naeem Hashmi, Maqsood Butt, Bedar Bakht Butt, Sadia Sharif, Ameen Hafiz, Jang Workers Union President Rukhsana Nazli, General Secretary Waseem Babar, Fakhira Tehreem, Shahzada Irfan, Jamaat-e-Islami general secretary Ameerul Azeem, Sadia Jabeen of the PPP, Shahid Aslam, Imdad Qureshi, Zahid Rafique Bhatti, Sabir Awan, Zahid Ali Khan, Ijaz Manzoor, Ijaz Mirza, Farooq Chohan, Naseer Baig, Azhar Maqbool, Sadia Aziz, Huma Mir Hassan, Naveed Aslam, President Civil Society Pakistan Abdullah Malik, Sohail Butt, Muneer Khokhar, Adeel Khokhar, Shafqat Imran, Asim Naseer and Waheed Butt.

Nasrullah Malik said he had come to join the protest as defending freedom of press was the duty of every journalist. He said our (media) victory lies in defending our freedom against all dictatorial acts. Which Constitution allows to forcibly snatch copies of newspapers and to threaten the cable operators to shut a channel (Geo), Malik asked, adding that some black sheep exist in our community which need to be thrown out now.

Allama Siddique Azhar said it was a matter of grave concern that Geo TV is off air as employment of thousands of workers is attached with this largest media house. He said nefarious designs with the help of some other channels have been made to discredit the most reliable source (Jang/Geo) of information for the public only to serve some vested interests.

Bedar Bakht Butt said the attack on senior anchorperson Hamid Mir was not an attack on him alone, rather the whole community came under attack from some powerful quarters who do not want free speech and freedom of the media. He said a planned conspiracy has been put in place after the attack on Hamid Mir to cause unbearable loss to the Geo/Jang Group to oust democracy from the country. He said the time has come to join hands to fight with the ‘angels’ and dictatorial mindset if we want to continue telling the truth to the general public.

Maqsood Butt said by attacking Hamid Mir it seemed that a serious campaign has been launched to eliminate all those journalists who speak the truth and stand in front of all wrongs.

Yousaf Shah and Khursheed Shah while condemning the ban on Geo said all labourers and worker’s unions of the country are with the workers of the Geo/Jang Group at this crucial time, adding that Geo is being targeted only for raising a voice for the poor and the needy.

In his speech, Ameerul Azeem demanded all illegal actions initiated against the Geo/Jang Group be stopped immediately, saying that the media house is the pride of Pakistan. He said Geo and Jang are the voice of millions of Pakistanis and efforts were underway to malign their favourite channel and newspapers which is highly condemnable.

Shahida Jabeen said by discrediting the Geo/Jang Group through such malicious campaigns, some forces want to again impose martial law in the country by throwing out hard-earned democracy. She also asked her leadership to throw persons like Israr Abbassi and Mian Shams out of the PPP as they were dancing to someone else’s tune while sitting in the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra).

Nisar Safdar Advocate and Iftikhar Shahid Advocate said religious elements are being used by some quarters to settle scores with Geo and Jang as this media house always stood against the high and mighty of the country. He said the media along with the lawyers’ community fought for the independence of the judiciary and now the lawyers will support the media in their fight for freedom and justice.

A representative of the Baloch Ittehad said that it was Geo and Jang alone which highlighted and raised the issues of Balochistan. He said the Baloch nation stands with the workers of the Geo/Jang Group in their fight for truth and freedom.

Abdullah Malik said Geo and Jang always promoted truth, harmony, equality, rule of law in the country. He said damaging this largest media organisation of the country means damaging democracy as every one knows that the independent media would not allow any unconstitutional act in the country again. He said all other channels and media houses should learn some lessons from the management of Geo/Jang Group as they accepted suffering a huge loss in the past one month or so but they never surrendered their freedom to the ‘angels’. He demanded that the government should intervene by finding a solution to the whole mess, otherwise things may go from bad to worse.

Meanwhile, the governing body of the Lahore Press Club on Saturday held its meeting with the chair of LPC President Arshad Ansari and expressed their serious concerns over the ban/suspension of Geo TV across the country.

In a statement issued here, the members of the governing body, while terming the ban on Geo as the economic murder of thousands of employees of the largest media house, said that such action against the Geo/Jang Group on any pretext would not be acceptable to the journalists’ community. “We will not let anyone ban/suspend any channel or media house of the country. If such actions were initiated against any group, the whole community would resist the move with full force,” they said.

The participants of the meeting asked the cable operators to restore Geo TV’s transmission throughout the country otherwise protest rallies would be taken out in all parts of the country.

Besides Arshad Ansari, LPC Secretary Shahbaz Mian, Afzal Talib, Farzana Ch, Asif Ch, Zahid Rafique Bhatti, Qamar Zaman Bhatti, Rizwan Khalid, Khwaja Naseer, Mehboob Ahmed, Imran Sheikh and Bilal Ghauri participated in the meeting.

The News