SWABI, March 1: The official policy of curbing the press and coercing journalists would backfire and when the journalist community upholds its professionalism no one could defeat them.

This was stated by leaders of various political parties and journalists while addressing a protest demonstration against the stoppage of advertisement to a Peshawar-based Urdu daily here on Tuesday.

They said that those who wanted to curb the press had never succeeded and the Muttahida Majlis-I-Amal government would meet with the same fate. They said it was a totally wrong approach to achieve objectives through the blackmailing of journalists.

District Nazim Jehan Zeb Khan said that the press had always played a constructive role in the strengthening of communities and those who wanted to curb the press actually did not like that their wrong doings should be exposed.