Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 16, 2007
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Friday, Nov 16, 2007 ePaper |
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Independence of media a great asset that must be defended Commission condemns surveillance of newspapers Lahore: In a media release, the Lahore-headquartered South Asia Media Commission, a regional media watchdog, has condemned the scuttling of freedom of information and expression by the military government in Pakistan and demanded withdrawal of the measures and decrees clamped down on media. “We call on the Pakistani authorities to stop intimidating the media, allow independent news channels’ broadcast and to revoke the two media ordinances General Pervez Musharraf proclaimed while declaring the state of emergency in the country,” the Commission’s Chairman N. Ram and Secretary-General Najam Sethi said in a statement. “Pakistan’s media are in danger of losing any possibility of disseminating independent news as a result of the offensive,” they said. “The government has stooped so low as to restrict the import of satellite dishes to prevent Pakistanis from receiving the broadcast of Pakistani and foreign television news stations banned within the country since November 3, the day the emergency was imposed,” the statement released by the Commission’s Coordinator for South Asia, Husain Naqi, said. “We support the Pakistani media that are refusing to bow to the censorship imposed by Gen. Musharraf,” the Commission said, calling the independence of media a great asset that must be defended. Around 10 reporters and photographers were roughed up and arrested by police in the southwestern city of Quetta while covering an Opposition demonstration on November 5. Nazeeruddin Siddique, a photographer with English-language daily, The Nation, was arrested by police the same day in Karachi. They were released later. Five photographers and cameramen were released in Karachi on November 6, while Imtiaz Alam, a newspaper journalist and the Secretary-General of South Asian Free Media Association, was released in Lahore after being held for 36 hours. Further, journalists were beaten and insulted by police while covering a demonstration by lawyers in Rawalpindi, near the capital. Photographer Muhammad Javed had two of his fingers broken by a policeman, who also took the memory card from his digital camera. “We condemn the arrests and seek an apology from the government for the harassment of journalists and keeping them in the custody incommunicado,” the Commission said. Censorship rulesThe statement also condemned the surveillance of 21 national dailies and 13 leading regional newspapers to see that they respect the censorship rules introduced in the new print media ordinance. The Commission condemned a pro-Taliban organisation for threatening to bomb the Jang Group for publishing photos of “young women.” The group’s chief executive, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, said he had also been the target of a murder attempt and death threats by militant groups based in Karachi. If the new regulations are violated, the government is given full powers to seize newspapers, while the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) is given similar powers to confiscate equipment from broadcast media. Media owners face up to three years in prison and a fine of 10 million rupees. Pakistani radio and TV stations are also banned from signing broadcast agreements with foreign news media without PEMRA’s permission, while cable operators and distributors can be sentenced up to a year in prison for breaking the new rules.
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