By our correspondent
KARACHI: The ban on government advertisements in the media, particularly in Dawn newspaper, for several months was described as a matter of deep concern for hundreds of employees and their families. The All Pakistan Newspaper Employees Confederation said it stood with its colleagues during what it called a difficult time.
These views were expressed at a meeting of the All Pakistan Newspaper Employees Confederation held at the Jang Union Office in Karachi under the chairmanship of its chairman, Shakeel Yamin Kanga. Officials of APNEC-affiliated trade unions from across Pakistan attended the meeting via Zoom.
Participants strongly condemned the government’s stoppage of advertisements in the daily Dawn and demanded their immediate restoration. APNEC chairman Shakeel Yamin Kanga termed the closure of advertisements an economic murder of media employees and an attack on freedom of expression, and said the government should not play with the lives of media workers.
The meeting also pledged that if the government failed to take action, a nationwide protest would follow. Participants further demanded the inclusion of an APNEC representative in the government’s negotiation committee. Expressing his views, APNEC secretary general Asghar Khan said the confederation fully believed in freedom of expression and democracy and had always fought against brutality and undemocratic tactics targeting media houses in the past.
He strongly condemned the closure of Dawn newspaper advertisements and demanded that the practice be stopped immediately, calling for the distribution of advertisements to the media in accordance with merit and the law. He expressed full solidarity with APNS and CPNE and assured them that APNEC stood with their institutions.
The meeting stressed the need for the government of Pakistan to immediately issue pending health cards for journalists and media workers and to begin new registrations. It also approved the immediate holding of local APNEC elections so that journalists and media workers could be organized at the regional level. Participants demanded the immediate appointment of the ITNE chairman and the establishment of ITNE courts in all four provinces in line with the constitution.
The meeting was attended by chairman Shakeel Yamin Kanga, secretary general Asghar Khan, finance secretary Muhammad Irfan, Karachi Union of Journalists president Tahir Hassan Khan, Herald Workers Union president Muhammad Kashif, vice-chairman Dara Zafar, assistant secretary general Rana Muhammad Yousuf, assistant secretary general Mirza Imran Baig, NEC member Obaidullah, The News Union Karachi president Saeed Mohiuddin, Raziuddin Babar, Shaukat Khattak, Jang Employees Union Karachi joint secretary Salimullah Siddiqui, Syed Sabir Ali, Adnan Shaukat from Lahore, Tahir Munsif and others.
