KARACHI: Lawyers slam govt for curtailing press freedom
By A Reporter
KARACHI, June 4: The legal fraternity in Sindh has called for an immediate withdrawal of the restrictions clamped down on the media in general and the electronic media in particular, and demanded a public apology from the functionaries responsible for the move.
An emergency meeting of the Sindh High Court Bar Association held under its president, Abrar Hasan, on Monday resolved that the curbs were not only unwarranted but also repugnant to the fundamental rights enumerated in the Constitution. According to the resolution, evidently the government has lost credibility and all its actions are calculated to extend its tenure by methods unheard of in any civilised society. The anti-media measures will backfire and Pakistan will join the ranks of uncivilised and backward countries ruled by repressive regimes.
The Sindh Bar Council member Aqil Lodhi and Advocate Mohammad Moshaffay Ahmad have also described the restrictions as counter-productive. Instead of removing the cause of public unrest, the regime was resorting to strong-arm methods to suppress its reporting by the media. Such measures were unlikely to prop up the regime for long, they said.
The Karachi Bar Association held its general body meeting at the City Courts which was addressed by its president Iftikhar Javaid Qazi, General-Secretary Naeem Qureshi, Joint Secretary Aamir Niaz Khan and other members.
Members Sindh Bar Council Salahuddin Khan Gandapur, Sati M. Ishaq, former president of the Malir Bar Association Sharfuddin Jamali, KBA Managing Committee member K. K. Javaid Khan, KBA members Ghulam Nabi Magsi and Munsif Jan also spoke on the occasion.Resolving to continue the movement for the independence of the judiciary and the media, they noted that the mounting pressure had unnerved the rulers to the extent that they had started taking unconstitutional steps against the masses who had come out with an unprecedented support to the movement.
By imposing restrictions on the live coverage of judiciary-related events, the government had fully exposed its dictatorial policies to the world, they observed.
The lawyers’ leaders pointed out that General Pervez Musharraf and his associates were claiming to have given the press full freedom and at the same time they had resorted to dictating the media which, they said, reflected a sharp contrast in their claim and practices.
They condemned registration of sedition cases against lawyers at different police station across Sindh, and vowed to foil all attempts to suppress their ongoing movement.
Rejecting Gen Musharraf’s allegation that lawyers were politicising the issue of reference against Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, they said that in fact, the general was indulging in politics. Referring to Gen Musharraf’s open support to the ruling PML, they argued that the Constitution did not allow a president to take sides. They also flayed PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussein for his remarks against the legal fraternity, and demanded an apology from him.
The lawyers lauded the role of media in projecting the cause of free judiciary, and expressed solidarity with the journalist community in its cause of free press.
They said masses were not ready to see the military dictators to rule over the country anymore, and demanded that armed forces must move back to their barracks now to perform their professional duties of defending the borders.
Meanwhile, lawyers at the City Courts and Malir District Courts boycotted the courts proceedings for one hour in line with their ongoing movement for the restoration of the chief justice of Pakistan.
