KARACHI: The Human Ri­­ghts Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Wedn­e­s­day condemned the withholding of public sector advertisements from media outlets crit­ical of government policies.

In separate statements on Wednesday, both HRCP and KPC decried the government’s tacit censorship in the form of financial pressure.

“HRCP notes with serious concern that the government has continued to withhold public sector advertisements from some newspapers such as Dawn, deemed critical of its policies... At the same time, other newspapers appear to have been fa­­voured with significant government adv­erti­se­ments,” the commission said in a statement.

The commission reminded the government it was constitutionally bound to protect people’s right to information as well as their freedom of expression.

“Tacit censorship in the form of financial pressure must not be allowed to control narratives or undermine press freedom. By threatening the survival of independent journalism and critical editorial policies, the government is doing itself — and the people it claims to represent — an enormous disservice in the long term,” it said.

Meanwhile, in a statement on X, KPC President Fazil Jamili said the club “strongly condemns the govt’s decision to withhold ads from Dawn in retaliation for its independent editorial policy.”

“We stand in solidarity with the newspaper & vow to fight together against all efforts to curb the freedom of expression in the country,” he wrote.

The issue was raised by the Pakistan Federal Union of Jo­­urnalists (PFUJ) in its recent ‘Islamabad Declara­tion’, where the union passed a resolution condemning the den­ial of government ads to publications, such as Dawn, which have chosen to pursue independent editorial policies.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2025