KARACHI: A country-wide strike will be observed today [July 24] by the working journalists, press workers, calligraphists, newspaper hawkers and other employees of newspapers and news agencies in response to the call given by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) as a mark of protest against the banning of the daily “Sun” and issuance of show-cause notices to Imroze [Multan], Nawa-i-Waqt [Lahore], and Jang [Rawalpindi].

…[T]here will be no newspaper throughout the country tomorrow [July 25]. The strike call has been endorsed by the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors … and the All-Pakistan New­spaper Society… . All the affiliated unions of the PFUJ … have strongly criticised the Government action under emergency powers and arbitrary Press laws i.e. Press and Publications Ordinance.

… Mr Minhaj Barna, Secretary-General of the PFUJ … said the country was passing through a critical phase and it was unfortunate that the Government was adding to the problems faced by the nation by making the Press hostile. He made an earnest appeal to the Government to … take immediate steps to revise its decision by lifting the ban on “Sun” and withdrawing its notices to “Imroze”, “Nawa-i-Waqt”, and “Jang”.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2022