(PPF/IFEX) – The All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS), the country’s national publishers organisation, has strongly deplored the government’s coercive actions against the press as manifested in the continued ban on government advertisements in “Nawa-e-Waqt”, “The Nation” and other newspapers. The APNS urged the president, General Pervez Musharraf, to intervene in the matter. At a recent […]
(PPF/IFEX) – The All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS), the country’s national publishers organisation, has strongly deplored the government’s coercive actions against the press as manifested in the continued ban on government advertisements in “Nawa-e-Waqt”, “The Nation” and other newspapers. The APNS urged the president, General Pervez Musharraf, to intervene in the matter.
At a recent meeting held in Lahore under the chairmanship of its president, Arif Nizami, the APNS Executive Committee considered the state of deteriorating press-government relations.
The members adopted a special resolution on the issue, which noted that federal and provincial government advertisements have been completely banned from “Nawa-e-Waqt” and “The Nation” for the past several months and stressed that the state of affairs is highly deplorable.
The resolution suggested that the Ministry of Information has consistently used the policy of using advertisements as a lever against certain newspapers to dictate its policy, which is contrary to assurances repeatedly given by President Musharraf.
The APNS said these actions constitute “a backdoor attempt to browbeat the free press” and dispense with the vital tenets of Pakistan’s constitution, including Article 19, which guarantees freedom of expression and press freedom. The APNS reiterated that it has always advocated deregulation and decentralisation of government advertisements, as these have been used by successive governments as a tool for arm-twisting of dissenting press.
The APNS Executive Committee formed a committee to take up the issue with the relevant authorities and decide on a line of action in order to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
