KARACHI: Former Justice Rasheed A Rizvi has said the Commission for the Protection of Journalists and Other Media Practitioners (CJMP) will proactively strive for tackling impunity for crimes against journalists and media in Sindh province.
In his concluding remarks, while attending Pakistan Journalists Safety Coalition (PJSC)-Sindh chapter meeting here on Thursday (16 December 2023), former justice Rasheed Rizvi said protection of journalists was strengthening freedom of expression in the province which the country’s constitution guarantees.
“Sindh is the first province to pass special law on protection of journalists after Pakistan People’s Party responded to growing cases of attacks on journalists in the province honouring key commitment party chairman Bilawal Bhutto made with the journalist community in the province.”
“Let me assure you that this commission would do whatever it could to deliver justice to those who attack media in the province,” the CJMP chairperson, accompanied by commission members Jabbar Khattak, Dr Tausef Ahmed Khan and Faheem Siddiqui, told the PJSC-Sindh chapter meeting.
Sindh Commission on Status of Women’s chairperson Nuzhat Shireen, Karachi Press Club President Saeed Sarbazi, PJSC-Sindh chapter chairman Aamir Latif, Freedom Network Executive Director Iqbal Khattak, media development expert Adnan Rehmat, TV commentator Mazhar Abbas, International Federation of Journalists Pakistan’s coordinator Ghulam Mustafa, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists Vice-President Shehar Bano and journalist A H Khanzada attended the meeting, according to a press release issued on Friday.
Iqbal Khattak briefed the CJMP chairperson and its members on safety initiatives and said Freedom Network was implemented to save journalists. The initiatives cater to the needs of three famous “Ps” - prevention, protection and prosecution through three different programmes in partnership with five biggest press clubs of the country, including Karachi Press Club.
The CJMP chairperson and its members hoped Freedom Network would continue to promote the agenda of safety of journalists and expressed willingness to work together for fighting impunity for crimes against journalists and other media practitioners in Sindh.
PJSC-Sindh chapter chairman Aamir Latif thanked the Sindh government for taking practical step to pass the law and set up the commission. He said the government of Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah would take personal interests in providing the commission with office, support staff, equipment to facilitate the CJMP in taking up cases of attacks on journalists and other media practitioners.
The meeting also underlined the need for special emphasis on special measures for protection of women journalists with Nuzhar Shireen calling for establishment of anti-harassment committees in media houses.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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