Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A legislative body of Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday asked the caretaker government to take cognisance of concerns on unannounced censorship and take all steps to address these concerns so as to ensure media freedom as enshrined in the Constitution.

Members of the committee regretted that unannounced censorship in media continues and some organisations were treated with discrimination, which should stop as early as possible. The direction was issued during Senate Standing Committee on Information, Broadcasting, National History & Literary Heritage, which held a meeting on Tuesday with Senator Faisal Javed Khan as chairperson.

Senator Moula Bux Chandio, Senator Rubina Khalid, Information & Broadcasting Secretary Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) President Afzal Butt, Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) President Mubarak Zeb Khan, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory (PEMRA) chairman, Principle Information Officer among other journalists attended the meeting.

The committee also directed the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, National History & Literary Heritage to take the issue of unannounced censorship and report ban on circulation/broadcast of a newspaper/private TV channel to the Federal Cabinet so that a holistic view of the matter is taken and necessary instructions to the concerned quarters are passed for addressing these concerns.

PFUJ President Afzal Butt said that there are two major issues facing the media. First was the unannounced censorship on media across the country. The second issue was ban on circulation of a leading daily as well as broadcast of a channel in the cantonment areas. RIUJ President Mubarak Zeb Khan provided some details of specific issues and concerns.

Information & Broadcasting Division secretary informed the committee that as per government’s stated and clear policy, media freedom and equality with all media houses are being ensured. He added that the division and all its allied departments are discharging responsibilities within their domain in fair and impartial way, all advertisements are being given on equality basis including the banned daily, there’s absolutely no censorship from the division, however, media houses have been asked to follow Election Commission of Pakistan’s code of conduct in letter and spirit. He also brought on record that as of the time of holding of the meeting, no formal complaint had been lodged by the channel or the paper with PEMRA or Press Information Department with regard to censorship or ban on circulation or broadcast respectively in any part of the country.

The committee chairman observed that caretaker minister for information should have attended the meeting to apprise the committee of the government’s stance on media concerns. He also said that media freedom needs to be ensured and it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, National History & Literary Heritage to take ownership of all such matters and address all issues facing the print and electronic media in the country.

Published in Daily Times, July 18^th 2018.