THE media landscape in Pakistan has seen many ups and downs since independence. At times, there have been periods of ‘glasnost’, when the press has spoken with relative ease. But, all too often, the media has seen dark periods of censorship and violence, with journalists unable to express themselves freely. Through the decades, activists for media freedom, including the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists — which recently marked its 75th anniversary — have struggled to safeguard democratic rights. And while many battles have been won, the struggle for media freedom and democracy continues, with Pakistani society continuing to face challenges. To mark its 75th year, the PFUJ held a meeting of its federal executive council and issued the Karachi Declaration 2025. The document highlights the grave obstacles the Pakistani media continues to face in the current era, including legal attempts to silence critical voices. In particular, the PFUJ has deemed the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act, 2025, and the Punjab Defamation Bill, 2024, as “authoritarian” and designed to suppress voices. It has called for the withdrawal of these laws. It has also expressed concern over the “fabricated cases” and life threats journalists, media workers and content creators face, while demanding an end to retrenchments in the media industry.

While 75 years of activism do mark a milestone for the PFUJ, it is a sad fact that nearly all unions in Pakistan have been weakened, and media organisations work in an atmosphere of fear and self-censorship. Today, rights bodies limit themselves to issuing press releases, or staging token protests. While it is true that activists and journalists face threats from state and non-state actors, in previous decades, brave individuals and organisations confronted powerful quarters, often at great personal cost, in their defence of basic rights. The Ziaul Haq dictatorship immediately comes to mind — an era when journalists were lashed and jailed for confronting the military strongman. Today, as we face an equally suffocating atmosphere, journalists, rights groups and civil society must continue the struggle for a more egalitarian society, and democratic rights. A free press — which questions power and speaks up for the voiceless — is indispensable to a truly democratic dispensation. If the current set-up is serious about respecting basic rights, it must address the issues raised by the PFUJ and other groups, particularly regarding anti-media laws.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2025