ISLAMABAD: A joint meeting of media organisations namely All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) unanimously rejected the federal government’s decision to set up special media tribunals.
The meeting which was held in the federal capital on Thursday was attended by heads of media organisations who expressed profound concern over what they said were the “federal government’s attempts to curb media freedoms and increase restrictions”.
Senior representatives of media organisations who were in attendance included APNS President Hameed Haroon, CPNE President Arif Nizami, PBA Chairman Shakeel Masood, Zohaib Malik from PFUJ (Barna), Pervez Shoukat from PFUJ (Dastoori), Mumtaz A. Tahir from PFUJ (Workers), APNS vice president, APNS secretary-general, APNS joint secretary, APNS finance secretary, CPNE secretary-general, CPNE vice president, Daily Pakistan Chief Editor Mujibur Rehman Shami, Daily Dawn Chief Editor Syed Zafar Abbas, Daily Sahafat Chief Editor Khushnood Ali Khan, Daily Tijarat Chief Editor Asif Zuberi, Daily Business Recorder publisher, Daily Ausaf editor, and PFUJ workers.
The meeting; therefore, called upon the government to immediately withdraw the anti-media decision whereas it was also decided that appropriate action including protests and the formation of a standing committee that handles the issue would be taken to protect the sanctity of journalists all over the country.
