KARACHI: Against a collage of black and white and coloured photographs displaying significant moments of historic struggles and fights for the freedom of press over the last 75 years, the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) celebrated the platinum jubilee of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Friday.

One of the many resolutions read out on the occasion pointed out that over the last seven months the county has seen at least eight journalists murdered, which should be a cause for worry for the government.

The meeting demanded that media house owners ensure protection of life and safety of their journalists and media workers.

They were also asked to take responsibility for the life and safety of media workers.

The PFUJ was acknowledged for standing up against all governments, be they civil or military, for their questionable actions, including the military operation in East Pakistan. The PFUJ journalists withstood arrests and flogging for criticising general Ziaul Haq.

Another resolution saw the KUJ congratulating PFUJ for its 75 years of struggle for the freedom of press.

It was said that the city of Karachi and Sindh in particular are lucky to have seen the founding of PFUJ from its soil on August 2, 1950.

The platinum jubilee celebrations and meeting paid rich tributes to the founding fathers of PFUJ, including M.A. Shakoor, Israr Ahmed, Minhaj Barna, Nisar Usmani, Abdul Hameed Chhapra, Ahfaz ur Rahman and others.

Earlier, speaking on the occasion, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the Pakistan Peoples’ Party has always stood for freedom of expression and the freedom of the press.

“We give funding and grants to press clubs, to journalist organisations and individual journalists, too. In fact, anywhere a journalist is in need, the Sindh government is by his or her side. As the information minister, I should not be taking decisions without considering the view of the health minister or the finance secretary, but still I do and they also agree with me when they learn about my initiatives later. It is our way, our mindset. And it is so because of our leadership,” he said.

“Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, President Asif Zardari and chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari all think like this. The media industry is thriving in Sindh because of the PPP government,” he said.

He also added that the dying print media needs to be revived but in order to do that there is a need to increase readership. “Here the reading habit is dying, what to say of increasing readership of newspapers,” he said.

On the issue of low salaries, the information minister said that he will take action against any media house guilty of it. “Any media house giving a salary to its employees, which is lower than even our minimum wage, we will make their business zero,” he said.

That said, he also pointed out that the media also needs to do its work right.

“Don’t do propaganda, don’t run fake stories, don’t malign people and organisations just because you can. From 2008 to 2013, the PPP also underwent a media trial with so many stories about us that were not true. When we challenged these, there would be a small clarification in the form of a ticker, which did not really clear the damage done but we tolerated it. There are genuine issues in Pakistan, which need to be highlighted and addressed. The media should also do its work honestly,” he said.

Earlier, KUJ president Tahir Hasan Khan said that the platinum jubilee of PFUJ needed to be celebrated specially for the younger generation of journalists to know of their predecessors’ struggles.

He also said that he wanted to see a revival of the print media in the world of digital media.

Senior journalist and analyst Mazhar Abbas recalled the founding of PFUJ and how journalists used to fight for the freedom of press, get arrested and refuse offers of being released if they penned an apology.

Senior journalist Javed Chaudhry said that times may have changed but the media industry is still facing the same old problems and curbs on freedom of expression.

KPC President Saeed Sarbazi remembered the founders of PFUJ and their struggles. He said that the KPC also had a part to play in their work.

The president of the Arts Council of Pakistan, Ahmed Shah; Shah Mohammad Shah of Muslim League-N; senior advocate Akhtar Husain, photo journalist Zahid Hussain Zaidi; Senator Syed Masroor Ahsan and senior journalist Habib Khan Ghori also spoke.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2024