May 4, 2005	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1426

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ISLAMABAD, May 3: Media experts on Tuesday called for freedom of the press and withdrawal of all black laws hindering access to information and freedom of expression. They said free media and democracy are interlinked. “Free media cannot flourish in non-democratic societies like Pakistan where parliament is subservient and judiciary submissive to military dictators.”

This was the general consensus among the senior editors, experts from print and electronic media during a panel discussion , organized jointly by the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Unesco and the Allama Iqbal Open University AIOU on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day.

Federal Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad was the chief guest.

Panelists included Dawn Islamabad’s Resident Editor, M. Ziauddin; Talat Hussain, Aaj Television; Hamid Mir, GEO channel; Quatrina Hosnain, PTV; Khalid Akhtar, The News; Afzal Bajwa, The Nation; and Ashfaq Ahmed Gondal of the Information ministry.

As many as 250 students of journalism and NGO representatives also attended the discussion.

The speakers urged the government to respect press freedom in order to protect fundamental rights of the people.

They underlined the role of an independent, free and pluralistic media in ensuring good governance, transparency and accountability, of the institutions, promoting peoples participation and strengthening rule of law.

“Free press cannot function in a vaccum. It needs a strong parliament and an independent judiciary”, said senior journalist M. Ziauddin.

He criticized various media-related laws citing the example of the Freedom of Information Ordinance. “It in fact denies access to information. Freedom of information should be recognized and formed part of the democratic norms”, he said.

Laws should facilitate freedom of expression rather than curbing and discouraging facts and objectivity, he added.

Press freedom had suffered and survived in unfavourable conditions while pointing out shortcomings of public departments and corruption of establishments, Khalid Akhtar said.

Quatrina Hosnain said, “for objective reporting journalists who search for facts face constant threats to their lives. News organization should provide protection to such journalists by putting together some sort of insurance system for them and their families in case mediamen are injured.”

“When it comes to core issues and defending national interests, there is no such thing as media freedom. There are questions, journalists cannot ask. There are circles where press freedom is non-existent while in certain circles it is fully exercised”, said Talat Hussain.

Strict media laws such as Defamation Law and Official Secrets Act came under strong criticism and the speakers demanded that these be discussed in parliament and sought remedies against these laws.

Pakistan was the only country where Freedom of Information Act has been imposed and it was ineffective, said Hamid Mir. “Despite this law police brutally beat 70 journalists on April 16 in Lahore”, he said.

Denial of access to information was another major concern hindering facts and objective journalism.

Media’s role also came under question when it was pointed out that social issues and problems of the people were not being highlighted properly.

Messages of UN Secretary-General and Unesco Director General UNESCO were also read on the occasion highlighting the theme this year “Media and Good Governance”.

Federal Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed claimed that the media was completely free in Pakistan so much so that they even influenced politicians, policy-makers and parliamentarians.

Media knew secrets but had been restrained from divulging them in the national interest, he said adding, “whatever freedom of expression exists has been won by the journalists themselves through their struggle and commitment to the profession inspite of laws and curbs inflicted upon them.”

About reporting on Wana and Balochistan situations, the minister said, the government restricted access to information which was best in the national interest.

SAFMA: South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) at a function condemned the arrest of more than 70 journalists for protesting against the government’s policies and non-implementation of the wage award in front of the Parliament House and beating of several others in Lahore earlier that day.

A resolution unanimously passed by journalist at the function organised by SAFMA to express its solidarity with the Nepalese journalists in connection with the World Press Freedom Day, demanded immediate release of the journalists and an apology by the government.

In a separate resolution, SAFMA expressed solidarity with the Nepalese journalists and asked the government of Nepal to put an end to its ongoing trampling of freedom of press.

Media persons in Nepal are facing tough times following government’s declaration of emergency, arrest of several journalists and closure of almost half of the radio stations in the country.

Speaking on the occasion, former Secretary-General, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Afzal Khan said the government deserved no credit for “the little bit of freedom” which was now available to the journalists in the country because it was won by waging continuous struggle by the journalists.

Tuesday’s arrests and manhandling of newsmen by police on April 16 on the arrival of PPP leader, Asif Ali Zardari, in Lahore, he said, were signs that the government was no more willing to digest the freedom of press available so far.

Already journalists had been exercising self-censorship because the government had been harassing the newspaper owners through various means including restricting advertisements to those newspapers which wrote against it, he said.

Freedom of press, Mr Khan added, was yet to be attained and a continuous process.

Nasir Malik, Coordinator of SAFMA, said simultaneous attacks on journalists in Lahore and Islamabad seemed a planned conspiracy of the government. The sufferings of Pakistani journalists were not less than their Nepalese colleagues as freedom of press was constantly denied in both the countries.

Renowned Educationist, Prof Khwaja Masud, said transparency and accountability were vital for democracies and could be ensured only by a free press. He said the government perhaps now wanted to apply a reverse gear, while the rest of the world was moving ahead for freedom of information. However, a reversal was not possible as the society has to move forward.

Other speakers said it was the right of the journalists to take out processions on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day. However, from the arrest and baton-charge of the journalists by the government on such an important day it was evident that the government was actually expressing solidarity with the rulers of Nepal instead of the suppressed Nepalese journalists.

They said the events of manhandling of journalists on April 16 and on Tuesday could not be isolated from each other. It seemed that the government’s tolerance level has dropped and it was perhaps planning a new strategy for the forthcoming local bodies elections and the general elections later.

The participants said it seemed that the government had been given an open hand by its foreign supporters to do whatsoever in order to keep on with its ‘sham democracy’ and the latest two incidents were just the government’s response in the same direction.