KARACHI: Managing Editor of Roznama Express Aijazul Haque has resigned from the newly elected Executive Committee of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) just after being elected to the position, protesting over the fake electoral lists that were formed on non-equality.
He said that a group of two newspaper houses have been occupying APNS for the last two decades using fake lists based on inequality. Hundreds of new newspapers and magazines have published and become prominent in the newspaper industry during the last ten years but they were deprived of their right of permanent membership unconstitutionally.
He said tens of millions of rupees were spent, external pressure was exerted and exploitive tactics like threats were used during the recent election because the occupying group feared of its defeat despite the fake forged electoral lists. He said that he was elected in the elections despite this conspiracy, however, many prominent and well known personalities of the newspaper world could not be elected because of the fake lists of APNS.
Well known persons like Zia Shahid (Roznama Khabrayn), Arif Nizami (Pakistan Today), Rafiq Afghan (Roznama Ummat), Anwar Sajidi (Roznama Intikhab), Dr Jabbar Khattak (Roznama Awami Aawaz), Kazam Khan (Daily Times), Hamid Hussain Abidi (Roznama Amn), Ghulam Nabi Chandio (Roznama Pak), Arif Siddique Baloch (Roznama Balochistan Express), Tahir Farooq (Roznama Jihad), Muhammad Haider Amin (Balochistan Times), Faqir Minthar Mangrio (Roznama Mehran, Hyderabad), Tanveer Shaukat (Roznama Ghareeb, Faisalabad), Zubair Mehmood (Roznama Soorat-e-Haal), Waqas Tariq Farooq (Roznama Jahan Numa), Nasheed Raee (Roznama Qaumi Awaz, Multan), Mumtaz Ahmed Sadiq (Roznama Aazadi) and Shamud Duha (Roznama Al-Falah) fought the election but could not succeed for a few votes. Thus they were deprived of the right of equal representation in APNS.
A few newspaper groups have right of more than one vote according to their editions; like Dawn group 3 votes, Jang group 12 votes, Nawa-e-Waqt group 6 votes, Kawish group 3 votes, Awam Quetta group 3 votes despite everyone of them is one single newspaper. On the other hand, several newspapers of Pakistan’s newspaper industry like Express has 1 vote (which should have 17 votes), Khabrayn 6 votes (which should be 12), Pakistan Today 1 vote (which should be 3), Daily Times group 1 vote (which should be 6), Jihad 1 vote (which should be 5, Awami Awaz 1 vote (which should be 5) and Ummat 1 vote (which should be 4).
In addition to that many newspapers which are published from many cities have the right of one vote only. Given the situation, many favoured newspapers have more than a dozen votes each while many uncountable newspapers of similar status do not have the right of similar membership.
Additionally, everyone knows the efforts of the specific group for many years to save the skin of a specific advertising agency which is being investigated by NAB. Aijazul Haq said that if hundreds of other eligible newspapers were not deprived of their membership unconstitutionally, his colleagues would have elected with heavy mandate and would liberate APNS from this occupying group and APNS would participate in solving the economic crisis faced by the newspaper industry. He announced that he and his colleagues will launch a struggle against formation of a fake electoral institution in APNS so that an effective strategy could be devised to solve the issues of the newspaper industry.
Published in Daily Times, April 4th 2018.