CPNE rejects Papra bill

The standing committee of the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE) in an emergency session held on Saturday under the chairmanship of CPNE President Syed Faseih Iqbal deliberated at length over the proposed bill for formation of the Press and Publications Regulatory Authority by the Federal Government and rejected it.
"Outright" and described it as yet another disguised attempt to control the press in Pakistan in the name of regulation. The Secretary General of the CPNE, Wamiq Zuberi, placed the draft legislation before the members of the standing committee and recalled the fact that no consultation on the draft legislation was held by the Federal Government with the representative bodies of the press, including CPNE. The CPNE President then invited members of the standing committee to give their views on the proposed bill.
The members discussed the proposed bill threadbare and were of the unanimous opinion that the bill must be rejected because the various punitive clauses in the bill, as also the statement of Objects and Reasons for the bill, go against the very principle of press freedom and the stand on self-regulation that the print media has always taken and campaigned.
Members declared that the proposed Bill is a veiled attempt at "controlling the press and not at regulating the press" and thereby must be rejected outright.
The members said that they were also surprised that such a piece of legislation, which concerns directly the newspaper editors and publishers, was never taken up for discussion with the representative bodies of the print media and the haste shown in the formulation of the legislation and the secrecy maintained by the Federal Government smacked of "other designs that bring out into the open a direct attempt to control the print media in the name of regulation".
The members said they felt that a mass campaign must be launched by CPNE in collaboration with other bodies of the print media to seek support for the CPNE stand on press freedom and its rejection of the proposed Papra Bill.
In this connection, the standing committee also authorised the CPNE President Syed Faseih lqbal to set up an 'Action Committee', which should collaborate with all print media organisations, political parties and members of the Senate, National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies to seek their support for CPNE stand on press freedom and the refusal by CPNE to accept any veiled or direct attempts at controlling the print media.
The meeting adopted a resolution declaring that the extent of press freedom, as obtained by the CPNE in co-operation with other organisations including the APNS, will be defended with all means at the command of the CPNE, and no camouflaged or direct attempt through innocent "declarations of intent and purpose by the Government" and extremely deplorable proposed legislation such as the Papra will be tolerated by the print media in Pakistan.
The meeting of the CPNE Standing Committee rejects totally all camouflaged attempts at controlling the print media including the proposed bill for the establishment of Papra. The different punitive clauses included in the bill militate against all norms of democratic practice and human rights as also press freedom.
The CPNE standing committee declares once again its total commitment to press freedom in the service of democratic and transparency in Pakistan. The CPNE standing committee is totally surprised that such obnoxious legislation as the proposed bill for formation of Papra is being considered by the Federal Government for promulgation contrary to all assurances on press freedom given to the print media by the rulers of the country.
The CPNE Standing Committee is of the firm opinion that the proposed bill is a crude attempt at controlling the press and the purpose behind the proposed bill, due to its various punitive clauses reveals and attempt the gagging the print media in the name of regulation.
Therefore, this meeting of the standing committee rejects the proposed bill and directs the President of the CPNE to set up an action committee to co-ordinate collective action with other bodies and elected representatives as also political parties to support CPNE stand on press freedom in the service of democracy and fairplay in the context of the coming general elections in Pakistan".
Those who attended and participated in the meeting were Syed Faseih Iqbal, President of CPNE (The Balochistan Times), Dr Jabbar Khattak (Sr. Vice President) Daily Awami Awaz, Javed Meher Shamsi, (Vice President Sindh) Daily Kaleem, Wamiq Zuberi (Secretary General) Daily Business Recorder, Mushtaq Ahmed Qureshi (Finance Secretary) Monthly Naye Uffaq, Anwer Farooqi (Daily Aghaz), Kazi Asad Abid (Fortnightly Ibrat Magazine), Aamir Mehmood (Monthly Kiran Digest), Inqillab Matri (Daily Millet), Naseer Hashmi (Daily Ummat), Owais Aslam Ali (PPI), Riaz-ul-Hassan (Fortnightly Engineering Review), Ghulam Nabi Chandio (Daily Pak), Saeed Khawar (Daily Nawa-e-Waqt), Muhammad Yousuf Qureshi (Weekly Roshan Pakistan), Mahmood-ul-Aziz (UPP), Khalid Imran (Daily Islam), Mamoon-ur-Rehman (Daily Insaf Times), Professor S.B. Hassan (Monthly Investment & Marketing), Shahid Habib (Daily Amn), Abdul Khaliq (Online), Usman Arab Satti (Daily Vatan), Younus Riaz (Daily Beopar), Nawaz Ali Memon (Daily Hilal-e-Pakistan), Mukhtar Aqil (Daily Jurrat) and Muzaffar Ejaz (SADA).-PR