ISLAMABAD: Like most press clubs in the country, Black Day was observed in the National Press Club on Thursday against the government’s anti-media policies.

The protest was organised by the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) on the call of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ).

Speakers called for the arrest of the killers of senior anchor Arshad Sharif and demanded that the case against ARY Director News Imad Yusuf be re-investigated transparently.

They also sought a law to counter fake news, warning that if the government did not accept the demands, journalists would reach Islamabad from all over the country on Jan 30 and stage a protest rally and sit-in.

Speaking on the occasion, PFUJ President Afzal Butt said several notices had been issued to TV channels through Pemra in the last 10 months, adding that the present government had started using Pemra and FIA as tools.

Mr Butt slammed the incumbent information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb and said when the PTI government was setting up the Media Development Authority and the journalists had set up a protest camp in front of the Parliament, the present information minister regularly visited the camp and assured the protesters that black laws against journalists would be abolished.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2023