CONTROVERSIAL MEDIA LAW: Journalists sit in front of parliament

Muhammad Naeem:

Islamabad: Journalists from all over the country  staged a protest on 13 September (Sunday) here in Isalamabad against Pakistan Media Authority (PMDA)  bill.

Protesting against the government’s plan to bull doze the Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA) legisla tion through a joint sitting of parliament, the journalist fraternity began a sit – in outside the Parliament House here  on Sunday evening.

 The protesting journalists had marched on Sunday from the National Press Club and reached outside the Parliament House. They had been staging a sit-in since and continued the protest till President Dr Arif Alvi’s address to the joint session of parliament on Monday afternoon.

Addressing the protesters, senior journalists representing various associations of media workers vowed to resist the government move to enforce the PMDA, terming it an effort to gag the press. 

The protest call was given by various journalist bodies, headed by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ).

Opposition pollitical parties also joined the protest and expressed their soliderity  with protesting journalists outside Parliament House in Islamabad, joining them in raising their voice against the proposed PMDA bill. 

Addressing the sit-in, Opposition Leader in National Assembly and PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif said that “I strongly oppose this authority. In the three years of parliamentary rule, the parliament is also a hostage. The instiitutions are also a hostage. You are also a hostage. Didn’t see, the dictatorial mentality in Pakistan suffocates the media first, and there are many laws coming which are unconstitutional. We will not remain silent in this regard either. We will move forward together, even then. In our intentions, a full march towards Islamabad is proposed.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maulana Asad Mehmood and others also expressed their views in this regard.

Addressing the protest, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari slammed the proposed PMDA, saying that the proposed bill is an “attack on the freedom of media and judiciary.” He said his party will attend the joint sitting of the Parliament with a two-point agenda; to advocate for the rights of 20,000 government employees who were sacked and to campaign for the freedom of speech. “These employees were not the PPP’s workers,” he said. “This is the second time that government employees have been fired. What will they do now?” he asked.

It is pertinent to mention here that the sit-in was organized against the proposed Pakistan Media Development Authority.

Earlier, the Parliament House staff on Monday barred journalists from covering the joint sitting. In response to the ban on coverage, the journalists staged a protest inside gate number 1 of the Parliament House. After walkout from the House, the opposition parties’ leaders also joined the journalists.