A local English Daily, Dawn, has reportedly “vanished” from the circulation in certain areas of Balochistan, locals claimed.
According to reports, the distributors informed the locals that they were “told not to distribute the newspaper because it ran Nawaz’s controversial statement and was ‘pro-Nawaz’”.
“FC confiscated the newspaper on Tuesday,” locals claimed.
Talking to Pakistan Today, local journalists, including members of Turbat Press Club, also confirmed that the circulation of the newspaper was “disrupted”.
A senior member of Dawn told Pakistan Today that he was aware that there were problems in distribution but “they were sorted out”.
However, another senior member of the media organisation said: “We have been receiving reports of disruptions in the distribution of the newspaper in various parts of the country. Right now, we are collecting more details, and are investigating to ascertain the reason behind these disruptions.”
The senior member didn’t comment on a question pertaining to reasons behind the newspaper not running the news over the matter.
Furthermore, a journalist on his Twitter shared that “Dawn is not allowed to be distributed in most cantonment areas, in some DHAs, almost entire Balochistan and dozens of cities of Pakistan”.
“I am told that DAWN newspaper is not allowed to be distributed in most cantonment areas, in some DHAs, almost entire Balochistan and dozens of cities of Pakistan. Supreme Court, PM House, all political parties, military authorities and media are mum about it. #DeafeningSilence”
His tweet was corroborated by another user, who wrote: “The News was arbitrarily banned in Cantonment several months ago. As from today DAWN has been arbitrarily banned in Cantt too. Is this what we call.”
However, their claims were contradicted by some social media users, who replied that they have been receiving the copies of the said newspaper.
On May 12, Dawn ran an interview, titled: ‘For Nawaz, it’s not over till it’s over’. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s statement on the 2008 Mumbai attacks in the interview has drawn ire of top civil and military leadership.
Nawaz had said: “Militant organisations are active. Call them non-state actors, should we allow them to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai? Explain it to me. Why can’t we complete the trial?”
It is pertinent to mention here that country’s largest TV station Geo was forced off the air and was later allowed to resume transmission after talks with the military on demands it makes changes in political coverage, according to a report published in Reuters.