The Standing Committee Members of the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE), led by CPNE President Syed Faseih Iqbal, visited the offices of the Daily Business Recorder and the Aaj TV Channel to demonstrate their solidarity and support to the Business Recorder and the Aaj TV in the backdrop of the May 12, 2007 violent incidents.
The CPNE Standing Committee members led by Syed Feseih Iqbal were welcomed by Business Recorder Editor Wamiq A. Zuberi, who showed the members of the CPNE Standing Committee different sections of Business Recorder Newspaper and the Aaj TV studios in the Recorder Building along with the tell-tale marks of bullets that pierced though different sections of the building on May 12, 2007.
The President of the CPNE Syed Faseih Iqbal speaking for all the CPNE members assured Wamiq A. Zuberi that the CPNE stood solidly in support of the right of Business Recorder and Aaj TV to enjoy press freedom and unhindered coverage of national news events in the service of the nation and democracy. He stressed the pioneering role of Mahmud Ahmed Zuberi, Chairman of Aaj TV and Chief Editor of Daily Business Recorder, setting a new trend in journalism in Pakistan. He recalled that M. A. Zuberi was a veteran of the Pakistan movement who had worked in support of the demand for a separate Muslim homeland under the leadership of the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He said that the attacks on Business Recorder and Aaj TV were most deplorable and there was no excuse for the failure of the law enforcing agencies including Rangers on May 12, 2007 in the city.
Syed Feseih Iqbal warned the authorities and also the persons out to curb press freedom that the press in Pakistan had now matured and no effort at bagging the press could succeed nor would the CPNE members allow it to happen. He also demanded a through probe in the happenings of May 12, 2007 with special reference to the attack on Aaj TV and the need for a mechanism that must be evolved to help restore confidence of the people in the law enforcement agencies.
Wamiq A. Zuberi and Arshad Zuberi along with other members of the staff of the Business Recorder and Aaj TV thanked the visiting CPNE members for the support they voiced for them.
The following members visited the Business Recorder and Aaj TV: Syed Faseih Iqbal, (President) Daily Balochistan Times, Dr Jabbar Khattak (Sr. Vice President) Daily Awami Awaz, Mahmood-ul-Aziz (UPP), Javed Meher Shamsi, (Vice President Sindh) Daily Kaleem, Najmuddin Shaikh (Daily Deyanat), Aamir Mehmood (Monthly Kiran Digest), Naseer Hashmi (Daily Ummat), Faisal Zahid Malik (Pakistan Observer), Saeed Khawar (Daily Nawa-e-Waqt), Waqar Yousuf Azeemi (Monthly Roohani Digest), Owais Aslam Ali (PPI), Abdul Khaliq (Online), Muzaffar Ejaz (SADA) and Ms Fouzia Shaheen (Monthly Dastak).-PR