Politicians, lawyers condemn Geo channel shutdown

KARACHI/LAHORE/PESHAWAR: Media watchdog Pemra’s decision to suspend the Geo TV licence for 15 days on Friday drew strong criticism from political leaders and lawyers.

PPP Sindh General Secretary Taj Haider on Friday said it was very unfortunate that private TV channels were being shut down. He said the government should have stepped in much earlier to save the situation but it played no conciliatory role.

He said it was again very unfortunate that an intense war was going on between the media houses. He said the working journalists must maintain complete unity in their movement and struggle and they should secure concrete promises and commitments from their respective owners that they would fight for their (owners’) cause but in return conditions of their services should be improved.

“In the past, we fought for our English colonial masters but only on the promise that afterwards we would be given freedom,” he said in support of his argument. Waqar Mehdi, Information Secretary of the Pakistan People’s Party, Sindh, said that due action against the Geo News television should be taken fully in accordance with the Constitution, the law of the land and the Pemra rules and there should be no violation of the law and the rules.

He said an independent, transparent, and proper inquiry should be conducted and the Geo News TV issue should be resolved as per the law. He said if the suspension of Geo News TV license for 15 days was in line with the rules and laws of Pemra, then there was no harm in it.

Syed Najmi Alam, General Secretary, PPP Karachi Division, said that suspension of the license and transmission of Geo News merely for 15 days was beyond his comprehension given the seriousness of the allegation pending against the Geo News. Given the allegation being probed against it, in case the Geo News had committed such a grave mistake, then the TV news channel should have been shut down forever. It seems to be a compromise between the parties and stakeholders concerned, said the local PPP leader.

The PML-F Media Coordinator, Kamran Tessori, said his party believes in press freedom and whenever and wherever the press voice was gagged, they will condemn it.Senator Saeed Ghani of the PPP opined that all the parties should have attended the Pemra meeting. He said during the Friday’s meeting, there were no private members and in the previous meeting there were private members. Ghani said though the Jang Group had always been against the PPP, they still say an injustice had been done.

The PML-Q and PML-N leaders and adviser to Sindh Chief Minister Sharmila Farooqi refused to offer any comments.MQM Rabita Committee member Engineer Nasir Jamal at first offered no comments; however, when insisted, he said: “Allah Taala Geo Kee Mushkil Asaan Karay.”

Despite repeated calls, Sindh Minister for Information Sharjeel Inaam Memon was not available for comments.KUJ President G M Jamali strongly condemned the decision of Pemra and said the authority should have heard both the sides. He said it was totally unjustified and unwarranted not to listen to Geo TV.

The KUJ and PFUJ strongly condemned the decision. The religious parties refused to make any comments over this issue.Legal experts and senior lawyers have condemned the one-sided Pemra’s decision of suspending the Geo News licence for 15 days and said it was a clear violation of the Article 10(A) of the Constitution.

Former judge of the Sindh High Court and renowned lawyer Rasheed A Razvi said the due process of law was not followed in the case, which was a clear violation of Article 10 (A) of the Constitution. He said the decision was politically-motivated.

Former assistant advocate general, Sindh, Syed Jalil Ahmed Hashmi, said it was an unlawful decision and could be challenged in the Sindh High Court under Article 199 of the Constitution. Hashmi said the decision was taken in haste and without providing an opportunity to Geo TV to defend it. He said the Pemra decision will definitely be set aside by the appellate court.

Renowned law expert and special public prosecutor Abdul Maroof said: “To me, the decision itself has committed many violations of law dealing with the right to know, right to speech and right to expression and it was a matter to be dealt with under Article 199 and Article 184 (3) as it not only involves the question of public interest, but also a matter of violation of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.”

Maroof said such decisions hold no water in the eye of law and were finally reversed and certainly this wrong decision would meet the same fate in the near future. Advocate Noor Naz Agha observed: “I am deadly against a decision that does not take into account necessary legal aspects of the matter and are drawn unheard of the stakeholders concerned.”

She said it was not an occasion of happiness and instead it was the tragedy of the day because such negative decisions could also affect other media houses. She said Pemra must honour the due course of law and due process of law while dealing with the matters of media and journalism, which were bound to do investigative reporting of the events.

According to the Pemra notification, the licence will remain suspended from June 06 till June 20. In Kasur, lawyers, journalists, traders, political workers and members of the civil society condemned the suspension of the Geo News.

In three emergency meetings held at kutchery and Lal Havely, the Unity Group of Lawyers, Insaf Group of Lawyers, HR activists and other organisations passed resolutions against the Pemra. Kasur BR VP Saleem Farrukh, Yaseen Farrukh advocate, Unity Group President Rana Naveed Ahmad Joya, Insaf Group President Saleemur Rahman, Sardar Sharif Sohdal advocate, Sh Ateeq Ahmad advocate, Naveed A Malik, Shazia Ajmal advocate, MM Tariq Advocate, Zohaib Baloch and others condemned Pemra and termed its decision a conspiracy against Geo, the media and democracy.

In Lahore, protesters rejected the Friday’s decision of Pemra saying the decision reflected the government’s intentions on the independence of the media and value of freedom of expression in the country.Carrying banners and placards inscribed with anti-Pemra, anti-Rathore and anti-government slogans, the protesters in hundreds gathered outside the Jang/Geo offices on the Davis Road and condemned the Pemra decision.

The Muttahidda Christian Rabita Committee on Friday denounced the suspension of Geo News licence by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) and asked the authorities concerned to review the decision.

In a press statement, provincial president of the committee, Tanveer Sherazi, said the ban on Geo News was biased and an injustice. “About 10,000 employees of Geo, Jang Group would be affected by the decision,” he said.

Lawyers, bar association condemn attack on Geo, Jang

KARACHI: Renowned lawyers and office bearers of different bar associations in Sindh, while expressing solidarity with the freedom of the press and the Jang Group, have termed the act of cable operators to shut down the Geo TV or putting it on last numbers ‘illegal and unethical’.

Prominent lawyer, constitutional expert and former judge of the Sindh High Court Justice (retd) Rasheed A Razvi condemned the act of cable operators of shutting down forcibly the country’s number one and most popular news channel Geo News and other channels of the group.

Razvi, while talking to this correspondent, was of the view that cable operators should not be allowed to decide about the closure, ranking and numbers of any TV channel. “They are just service providers, their role is just like the hawkers of newspapers and how can a hawker refuse to deliver a newspaper of our choice by saying that he does not agree with the policy of the paper?” he argued.

Rasheed Razvi urged the federal government to assert its authority and take action against the cable operators.

According to him, Geo and Jang Group had not crossed any legal or ethical limit. Razvi said the media was the fourth pillar of any state and in Pakistan the media had always remained at the forefront for the restoration of democracy and independence of the judiciary.He added the legal fraternity should also stand with the media as they stood with the lawyers community during the struggle for the independence of the judiciary.

President Sindh High Court Bar Association, Hyderabad, Nisar Ahmed Durrani, also termed the cable operators’ decision to put Geo on the last numbers and impose a self-appointed ban “against the law and principle”.

According to the Pemra rules, he said, cable operators are not allowed to push down or ban any TV channel.Durrani said that freedom of speech was guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan and all the institutions of the country, whether they liked it or not, came under the Constitution. “No institution is above the law. If anyone illegally or by force tries to curb press freedom by banning the Jang Group, the legal fraternity of Sindh will stand with the media and the Jang Group.”

Durrani said the legal fraternity could launch a protest move like it did for the restoration of the judiciary in 2007. At that crucial time when illegal and unconstitutional actions were taken, the media remained firm and stood by the lawyers and this time the lawyers will be with the media.

President Karachi Bar Association (KBA) Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed said that freedom of the press was essential in a democratic society and no institution was above the law.He termed the cable operators’ act to push the Geo TV channel to the last numbers or ban it on their own unlawful and said the Jang Group should move a contempt of court application against these operators.

“No cable operator has the right to decide the ranking or closure of any TV channel,” he said. “Pemra should also take action against this illegal act.”Ahmed said that nobody had the right to put the stamp of being a traitor on anyone. “As far as I believe, all staff members of the Jang Group are patriotic.”

Salahuddin also criticised other media institutions for continuing to spew venom against Geo and Jang Group. “They should remember that this will not stop only at the Jang Group, as the undemocratic forces and anti-media forces, which are against the independence of the media and freedom of expression, will also ban their institutions someday. The journalist community should strengthen their own ranks.”

Lawyers of the Larkana Division pledged to launch a protest campaign if Geo TV was banned.President High Court Bar Association Asif Soomro said that journalists had dedicated their lives to a noble cause and many journalists had sacrificed their lives.

He said that Geo and Jang Group are the voice of the whole country and no restriction in this regard will be accepted.He said the attack on Hamid Mir was an attack on the freedom of expression.

Senate, Sindh, KP assemblies condemn attack on Hamid Mir

 

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR/SINDH: The Senate, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh Assembly on Monday adopted resolutions to condemn the attack on Geo News senior anchor Hamid Mir and urged the federal government to take effective steps for the safety and protection of journalists across the country.
In the Senate, the routine proceedings were suspended to debate the increasing risks to journalists with particular reference to the attack on Geo News senior anchor Hamid Mir, after the media persons stormed out of the Press Gallery.

The House adopted a unanimous resolution read out by Senator Sehar Kamran, strongly condemning the attempt on the life of Hamid Mir. The upper house expressed deep concern over the attacks on media persons and media houses and called on the government to take effective steps for their security.

It was a private members’ day that was set aside to pacify the journalists. Senators in their speeches said the attack on Hamid Mir was yet another lethal attempt to stifle the media and lamented that nothing had been learnt from the past deadly attacks on media persons.

Senators, mostly from the opposition benches including Leader of the Opposition Aitzaz Ahsan and Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, who heads the House panel on defence, called for a halt to “army and ISI bashing” and asked the government to defend the military and the top spy agency vis-à-vis the Karachi tragedy on Saturday.

It was unusual that both the Leader of the House Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq and Leader of the Opposition Aitzaz Ahsan together visited the Press Lounge to listen to the concerns and demands of journalists, following their walkout.

The House decided to form a committee under Mian Raza Rabbani, including one senator from each party, to interact with media representatives for their protection and rights. The body will also look into the assurances that had been given to journalists but never implemented.

After convincing the journalists to end the boycott of the House, Raja Zafar made a statement on the floor of the Senate that on the proposal by media persons a House committee will be formed under Mian Raza Rabbani while Afrasiab Khattak, Saeed Ghani, Rafique Rajwana and Muzaffar Hussain Shah will be its members.

To evolve a mechanism for protection of journalists’ rights, the committee will also bring a piece of legislation privately or the government can also move it. A bill already submitted by Jamaat-e-Islami’s senators many months back will also be looked into.

Senators Abdul Rauf, Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, Hafiz Hamdullah, Kamil Ali Agha and Maulana Ghafoor Haideri protested on being overlooked. The MQM and JUI-Fazl senators also walked out of the House.

Haji Adeel and Hamdullah agitated over a comment by the chair, whereby he defended the PPP and PML-N having named the panel members as they were the only two federal parties. He was asked to withdraw his comment.

Later, Deputy Chairman Sabir Baloch, who was chairing the sitting, gave the ruling that one senator from each party in the House should be made part of the proposed panel.

Those who spoke on the issue of killing of media persons and attacks on them included Aitzaz Ahsan, Mushahid Hussain, Haji Muhammad Adeel, Farhatullah Babar, Afrasiab Khattak, Tahir Hussain Mashhadi and Saeed Ghani.

They asserted that now that a judicial commission had been formed, there must be no exceptions and that no one should rush to judgments and its findings must be made public once the job was done and reports of Hamoodur Rehman, the Abbottabad Commission, Saleem Shahzad murder and Umar Cheema probe details be shared with the House.

A mention of the ISI’s past with reference to the training of Mujahideen for Jihad against the then USSR in Afghanistan, Operation Midnight Jackal and its involvement in electoral process vis-à-vis the Asghar Khan case was made by Aitzaz Ahsan. However, he advised against blaming the ISI with regard to the attack on Hamid Mir.

Like other senators, Aitzaz Ahsan too demanded that those named by Hamid Mir should be probed thoroughly and, if found guilty, they must be punished, irrespective of their status or position.

Mushahid emphasised there should be no army and ISI bashing and noted the ISI was a part of the government, as DG ISI was answerable to the prime minister. He insisted the government should defend the army as well as the prime secret agency. He added no one should be defamed or maligned.

He proposed that parallel to the judicial commission, an inter-agency task force should also investigate the incident. The senator called for a permanent joint parliamentary committee to work for protection of media persons in view of recurring attacks on them.

Afrasiab Khattak called for making public the past probe reports so that mistakes made in the past should not be repeated and corrective measures be taken. He pointed out the Supreme Court had asked the government to enact laws on intelligence agencies and missing persons, which hitherto were not made. The senator noted the House committee on human rights had also submitted a report for legislation.

Senator Farhatullah Babar called for a framework for protection of media persons.Saeed Ghani said “ISI bashing has to some extent spoiled Hamid Mir’s case” and cautioned against drawing conclusions at this stage. He regretted why the government had not made a demand from the TTP to withdraw their Fatwa calling for killing media persons and asked for inclusion of this demand during talks with the militants.

He said those mentioned by Hamid Mir with regard to threats to his life should be investigated in a transparent way. He offered to voluntarily withdraw his name from the proposed committee. Mashhadi also said those nominated by Hamid Mir and his family should be probed but cautioned against becoming judge, jury and executive.

Also, the Sindh Assembly on Monday unanimously adopted three resolutions condemning the weekend’s armed attack on senior anchorperson of Geo News Hamid Mir in Karachi, calling for immediate arrest of the culprits and also praying for an early recovery of the journalist.

The resolutions of identical nature on the issue, which also appreciated the services of Hamid Mir for the nation, were moved and read out separately in the House by Sindh Information and Local Government Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, parliamentary leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in Sindh Assembly Syed Sardar Ahmed, Nand Kumar and Nusrat Sehar Abbasi of Pakistan Muslim League (Functional) and Khurram Sher Zaman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Meanwhile, the representatives of print and electronic media covering the assembly proceedings also staged a token walkout from the Press Gallery to register their protest against the armed attack on the life of Hamid Mir.

Speaking to media persons, Sharjeel Inam Memon said two CCTV cameras were installed at the place near the Karachi Airport where senior anchorperson Hamid Mir came under attack. He said one of the two cameras was found to be defective while the link of the other camera was down, so no footage of the attack was recorded. He said the Sindh government had started proper investigations into the faulty working of the CCTV network at the place of the armed attack.

He said the Sindh government had approached the authorities concerned in the federal government for obtaining the relevant data and record of cellular phone communications related to the attack incident.

Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a resolution condemning the attack on Geo News senior anchor Hamid Mir and termed it an attack on press freedom.

The bipartisan resolution presented by Minister for Health Shaukat Yousafzai vowed to defend the freedom of the press. It asked the government to launch an independent investigation into the incident and expose the attackers.

“This assembly condemns the attack on prominent anchorperson and senior journalist Hamid Mir and declares it an attack on the freedom of press,” it said.“This assembly pays tribute to Hamid Mir for promoting freedom of the press and assures that this assembly will stand by the freedom of the press,” it continued.

The resolution also expressed concern over threats to other senior journalists and demanded an investigation into the issue. It called upon the government to provide protection to media persons.