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Ignorant of Colleagues Become Pleader of Absconders

Web Desk

WEB DESK: Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) had recently filed a petition, challenging PEMRA’s order in the Islamabad High Court of banning media coverage of an accused.

The petition states that unless a person is found guilty, he or she should have full freedom of expression.

HRCP’s petition had the signatures of many well-known and influential journalists and anchorpersons of the country.

When the petition was heard in the IHC, the court strongly reprimanded the defendants on the petition.

The court inquired under which law the accused should be allowed to appear in the media. In this way, whoever does not face the court and leaves the country will have to be allowed to speak whatever he wants.

The request sparked a heated debate on social media too. Arguments are still on, both in favor and against it.

Few journalists have also had to explain on Twitter that why they signed the HRCP petition and became plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

There is no doubt that this move by renowned journalists is not illegal and is an important practical step in the context of freedom of expression.

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Although HRCP’s petition did not name any accused, the timing of the submission of the petition indicates that it was filed against PEMRA’s ban on PML-N founder Nawaz Sharif. Here the question arises why these influential journalists of Pakistan do not take a petition in any court when their colleagues are forcibly fired from various media outlets?

Or why don’t they raise their voice when media outlet owners arbitrarily cut the salaries of media workers in the name of economic hardships?

Why has none of these anchorpersons ever gone to court for the eighth wage board award, the legitimate right of journalists and staff of newspapers, which has been pending for a long time?

When did these journalists write letters to the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), and Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) to record their protest on the problems of media workers?

There is no such precedent in the past.

Therefore, these journalists were criticized for being plaintiffs at the request of the HRCP, and their action was termed as biased.

Recently, the English daily Dawn employees protested against the forced dismissals.

These were the same employees who stood by the company during Dawn’s forced suspension of services and pressures exerted but supported the bosses on every front.

The same thing happened with Geo News, when it was shut down under Musharraf rule in 2007.

Its employees not only protested and waited for salaries for months but did not back down.

When Geo News was revived after shut down, it fired employees on a large scale on the pretext of a financial crunch.

Sources say that downsizing lists in many news outlets are ready and will be issued any day.

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