Speakers at a seminar on Tuesday expressed concern over growing restrictions on civil liberties, freedom of expression and democratic rights in Pakistan and urged democratic forces to resist unconstitutional curb on people rights.
The seminar, titled “Press Freedom and Challenging Conditions,” was jointly organised by the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ), the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) and The Knowledge Forum (TKF) at the Karachi Press Club.
The participants of the seminar were of the view that the country’s media environment had become increasingly difficult, with journalists facing threats to their livelihoods, legal restrictions and growing pressure on independent reporting.
They also expressed concern over shrinking civic space and restrictions on political activities and peaceful protests. Addressing the participants, former Supreme Court judge and Chairperson Sindh Human Rights Commission Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar said the Constitution of Pakistan guarantees fundamental rights to every citizen, including freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. He stressed that constitutional rights must be protected and upheld in accordance with the law and democratic principles.
HRCP Chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt said press freedom is under threat across the country and many journalists are working under constant fear of losing their jobs. Veteran journalist Husain Naqi deplored that media is restricted severely as they are not allowed to cover people’s movements in Balochistan and Azad Jamu and Kashmir.
Describing the current media situation as much worse than the martial law era, he said that the prevailing environment has made it increasingly difficult for journalists to perform their professional duties independently.
Calling for stronger protection of freedom of expression, he demanded the withdrawal of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), arguing that the law had adversely affected freedom of the press.
Senior journalist Dr Tauseef Ahmed Khan also addressed the gathering and highlighted the importance of protecting press freedom and democratic values. In Balochistan, he said, many journalists had lost their lives because they were covering atrocities against citizens. Senior journalist Mazhar Abbas said the country was passing through one of its most difficult periods and warned that restrictions on free expression continued to increase.
Referring to the enactment of Peca, he said he had earlier warned government ministers that the law could eventually be used against those who introduced it. He said such legislation had created an environment where freedom of expression was increasingly under pressure.
He also expressed disappointment over what he described as the limited role being played by lawyers’ organisations.
He said the legal community had played a historic role during the 2007 lawyers’ movement and under previous military governments but it was no longer demonstrating the same level of resistance in defence of constitutional rights.
Abbas said journalists were also facing severe economic hardships because of worsening employment conditions and financial insecurity within the media industry. He stressed that journalists and trade unions should strengthen their cooperation and launch a joint struggle to protect democratic freedoms and labour rights.
Commenting on state institutions, Abbas said both Parliament and the judiciary had become ineffective and had failed to adequately defend constitutional freedoms.
Secretary General NTUF Nasir Mansoor highlighted labour rights issues and alleged that employers were depriving workers of billions of rupees by failing to pay legally mandated wages.
He said many factories and business establishments were not implementing the minimum wage fixed by the government, resulting in widespread exploitation of workers. He called for stricter enforcement of labour laws and greater accountability of employers.
Senior educationist Dr Riaz Sheikh said democratic space was shrinking and civil society activists were increasingly finding it difficult to organise peaceful demonstrations or even hold press conferences inside or outside press clubs.
Dr Sheikh referred to the recent incident involving noted human rights and women’s rights activist Sheema Kermani, who was detained outside the Karachi Press Club, and described it as an example of the restrictions being faced by civil society activists.
The participants emphasized that journalists, labour organisations and human rights groups needed to build stronger alliances to defend constitutional freedoms and democratic values. They maintained that protecting press freedom was essential for safeguarding democracy, transparency and accountability, and urged all democratic forces to work together to ensure that citizens’ fundamental rights, including freedom of expression and peaceful political activity, were fully respected.
Expressing concern over threats frequently faced by journalists because of their professional work, the media, human and labour rights activists participating in this seminar express concern over the working conditions in the news media, including insecurity of lives and jobs.
They said the media workers, as well as citizens are facing intensified curbs on their fundamental rights of freedom of expression and access to information. They were of the view that it is no more an assertion but a general public perception that the news media in the country are not being allowed to freely and safely fulfil their responsibilities of protecting public interests.
Calling for repeal of laws and policies hampering freedom of speech, access to information and free exchange of views in the country, the gathering noted that although several rights commissions have been established in accordance with expectations of the European Union for its GSP+ preferential status, the Sindh Information Commission and Sindh Journalists Protection Commission have not been able to play their roles effectively.
They said the government has appointed retired bureaucrats as their chairpersons and both commissions appear to be working under the Information Department despite their independence from the government structure envisaged in the statutory acts under which they operate. The participants demanded that the Sindh Information Commission and Sindh Journalists Protection Commission should be under the Sindh Human Rights Commission.
They said that the commissions should have independent secretariats and their chairpersons and members should be appointed in consultation with the representative bodies of journalists.
They also demanded of the government to make functional the Pakistan Commission for the Protection of Journalists and Media Person, which has been also almost dormant as over one year since its formation and no budget has been released for its work. The participants also demanded that the federal commission’s empowerment and autonomy should be ensured and the federal government should immediately release its budget.
