Move to stifle press freedom slammed

E-Paper | March 15, 2026

KARACHI: The Board of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has called upon the authorities to lift restrictions on the distribution of daily Dawn and condemned recent actions as a deliberate attempt to stifle press freedom in the country.

In a meeting in Estoril, Portugal, on the occasion of the World News Media Congress, the board acknowledged reports of disruption in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab, where salesmen had been told to cease distributing the newspaper after the publication of an interview with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. “Military personnel went so far as to search newspaper sellers to prevent copies of the paper from reaching military cantonment areas.”

Furthermore, the board noted, since Oct 2016 there had been reports of disruption in the distribution of the newspaper in a number of cantonments and other military-controlled residential districts as a result of Dawn’s coverage of civilian-military relations.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2018

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Ramzan

Jun 07, 2018 07:58am

This is what we call restraint

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Alba

Jun 07, 2018 08:00am

The board acknowledged reports of disruption in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab, where salesmen had been told to cease distributing the newspaper. _ That should be all the evidence people need to hear to understand who is suppressing press freedom.

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Jun 07, 2018 08:30am

The beatings will continue until everyone falls in line. Funny how our indomitable CJ never hears about the muzzling of free press in the country even though the whole world sees it. Hang in there Dawn - you are now in distinguished company.

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Akil Akhtar

Jun 07, 2018 10:20am

Good move by the authorities....

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khanm

Jun 07, 2018 02:23pm

I have seen how leaders rule by intimidation. Leaders who demonize and dehumanize entire groups of people often do so because they have nothing else to offer. And I have seen how places that stifle the voices and dismiss the potential of their citizens are diminished: how they are less vital, less hopeful, less free.

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