Convention of Council of Pakistan Press Clubs

 

LAHORE: The Quetta, Lahore, Skardu, Karachi, Islamabad, Muzaffarabad and Peshawar press club presidents have condemned an attack on Hamid Mir and declared that the curtailment of free speech was not tolerable to Pakistan’s journalists.
They were addressing the first convention of the Council of Pakistan Press Clubs here on Thursday. Addressing journalists representing 70 press clubs in Pakistan, Lahore Press Club (LPC) President Arshad Ansari said Hamid Mir’s attackers should be arrested and elements within the state should refrain from banning the Geo TV. He said the press clubs served an important purpose of bringing journalists from different media outlets together and ensuring they get insurance, pension and essential social services. He said other press clubs in small districts of the four provinces should follow the LPC and insure their members and press the government to build journalist colonies in their areas. He paid tribute to the late journalist Nisar Usmani and said journalists had historically fought against dictatorships and for the protection of democratic institutions.

The LPC president said there were towns in Pakistan where four or two press clubs operated instead of one. Elections were not held there on a regular basis, and the press clubs councils were infiltrated by the editors of newspapers and government employees disguising themselves as journalists. It’s time for journalists to unite and finish this dirty infighting between media outlets, he said.

Shafique Awan said the dangerous trend of labelling journalists as traitors must be immediately stopped as the label of ‘traitor’ could lead to the death of a journalist. He said journalists were important part of democracy since they informed citizens of their rights and abuses of power. He objected to any action against the Geo TV and said the PEMRA complaint filed by the Ministry of Defence should be withdrawn.

Journalists arrived from the four provinces raised issues including the need for one press club in their districts, proper identification for press club members, safety and security of journalists, decent income and regular contracts for journalists, regular press council elections, comprehensive coverage of issues plaguing Balochistan, KP and Gilgit-Baltistan, measures against illegal encroachments on press clubs, protocol and adherence to press club constitution and social welfare schemes for journalists.

National Press Club Islamabad President Shehryar Khan said media outlets deserved scrutiny and condemned a local news channel for firing a female anchor because she asked for maternity leave. He condemned the measures being taken to cancel the Geo TV licence, saying that it would put thousands of people out of work. He said the Council of Pakistan Press Clubs stood for individuals and would help any journalist facing threat to his/her life. He said conspiracy theories being aired on Hamid Mir’s attack should be condemned as Mir was still undergoing treatment.

Press Club Quetta President Raza Rahman praised Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists President Afzal Butt for visiting Balochistan and establishing a PFUJ office in Quetta. Rahman said journalists in Balochistan worked in spectacularly dangerous conditions and could be picked up anytime by agencies and terrorist groups. He said Pakistani media was not giving enough coverage to Baloch issues and they were suffering from government negligence.

He said Baloch journalists were also facing false charges of terrorism and militant separatism.

Karachi Press Club President Imtiaz Farhan said the KPC condemned measures to curb freedom of expression and believed journalists should be given their economic rights. He praised the PFUJ leadership in the fight for free speech and said the Council of Pakistan Press Clubs would work in collaboration with the PFUJ for the welfare of all journalists in the country. He said the PEMRA lacked authority to revoke the Geo TV licence.

Peshawar Press Club President Nasir Hussain said KP journalists since the war on terror faced multiple threats and field reporting was difficult in the region. He said the PPC had started insuring its members for their welfare. He said a uniform constitution for all press clubs could prevent irregularities and bad practices at the district level.

Skardu Press Club President Nisar Abbas said Gilgit-Baltistan had a large number of unmasked graves that were not getting coverage in the mainstream Pakistani media and the PFUJ had not done much to alter the situation. He said Gilgit-Baltistan’s press club members had no votes in the PFUJ elections and their representation in government bodies was insignificant. Abbas condemned the attack on Hamid Mir.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Press Club President Tahir Ahmed Farooqi thanked Arshad Ansari for arranging the convention and said PFUJ President Afzal Butt had visited AJK multiple times on behalf of the organisation.

Former Council of Pakistan Press Clubs and National Press Club Islamabad convener Farooq Faisal said his dream of seeing press clubs united at a single platform had been realized. He said the All Pakistan Women Journalist Convention scheduled to take place on Friday (today) would be a resounding success as well. He said Hamid Mir’s attackers must be arrested.

PFUJ President Afzal Butt welcomed the formation of the Council of Pakistan Press Clubs and said the country’s worrying circumstances merited a discussion amongst journalists. He said the reports of deaths of journalists from Larkana, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Mansehra and Abbottabad were alarming. He said whereas journalists in big towns in Pakistan got coverage; journalists in small districts were being killed without a minute of media coverage. Butt said the PFUJ had issued a statement on the day when Hamid Mir was attacked.

A prayer for Hamid Mir and the murdered president of the Mianwali Press Club followed the speeches. At the conclusion, a declaration was passed by the Council of Pakistan Press Clubs. The declaration stated that the government should take measures to provide security to journalists and actively protect their freedom of speech and no curtailments on freedom of speech would be tolerated.

UN Security Council to conduct urgent meeting on Ukraine crisis

UNITED NATIONS: UN Security Council will hold an urgent meeting on the crisis in Ukraine on Saturday after Russia announced plans to send armed forces into the autonomous Crimea region of the former Soviet republic, council delegations said.
A diplomat from Luxembourg, president of the 15-nation council this month, said the meeting would take place at 2:00 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) and was being convened at the request of Britain.
The council met on Friday to discuss the crisis in Ukraine's Crimea region but took no formal action, as expected.
The meeting highlighted the deep divisions between the United States and other Western nations and Russia, which has a major Black Sea naval base in the Crimea.
At Friday's session, Ukraine accused Russia of illegal military incursions onto Ukrainian territory, while US and European delegations warned Moscow to withdraw any new military forces deployed in neighboring Ukraine.
Russia, however, said any military movements by Russian forces there were in compliance with its agreement with Kiev on maintaining its naval base there.
Russia is a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council and, therefore, able to block any actions proposed by its members.

Ukraine urges UN Security Council to stop Russian aggression

UNITED NATIONS: Ukraine urged an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Saturday to act now to stop Russian "aggression" in Crimea, accusing Moscow of brutally violating the world body's charter.
"We call on the Security Council now to do everything possible to stop aggression of the Russian Federation to Ukraine. There is still a chance," Ukrainian Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev said.
Russian troops entered Ukrainian territory illegally as an "act of aggression against the state" and "their number is increasing every coming hour," he added.
Sergeyev called for the deployment of international monitors and said Russia had "brutally violated the basic principles of the charter of the United Nations."
"We urge all member states of the United Nations to demonstrate solidarity with the Ukrainian nation to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country," Sergeyev added.

Grassroots outreach: PTI council meeting to unveil provincial agenda

File photo of PTI chief Imran Khan. PHOTO: QAZI USMAN 

LAHORE:  “Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) will hold its provincial council meeting on March 2. PTI chairman Imran Khan will preside over the meeting,” said Dr Yasmin Rashid, the party’s general secretary, on Thursday.

She said the PTI was the first party to hold intra-party elections. She said the party leadership wanted to continue the practice. PTI Punjab president Ejaz Chudhary said 600 office bearers would attend the meeting. He said members of the parliament would also be present. He said representatives of some think tanks and newspapers columnists had also been invited.  He said the programme would contain a review on the performance of the PTI in the Punjab and its achievements so far. Information Secretary Andleeb Abbas said the provincial council would also act as an information and communication cell between the general public and the PTI office-bearers.