The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), on Wednesday, declared the government's ban on advertisements to daily Nawa-e-Waqt as "contradictory to the spirit of freedom of press," and demanded of the government to revoke it immediately so as to develop a culture of freedom of expression in the country.
PFUJ President Ahfazur Rehman, in a statement, observed that the ban on advertisements of daily Nawa-e-Waqt was synonymous to an interdiction on the right of difference of opinion, which would greatly damage the democratic values.
He said that according to the country's constitution, all schools of thought had a right to propagate their ideologies and this right also provided a solid foundation for the freedom of press.
He said until now no clarification had come forth from the government to elucidate the reason behind the ban on Nawa-e-Waqt, due to which the general belief in the journalistic and political circles was that it was being punished for differing with the government policies in some matters.
The PFUJ President said the government attitude over the matter was unjust, as the government was not entitled to make such lopsided decisions.
"If in the government's opinion, Nawa-e-Waqt's policy was harmful to survival of the country, it was free to refer court of law, where both the parties would have the freedom to express their viewpoints," he stated.
Ahfaz said the government should immediately recommence advertisements to Nawa-e-Waqt so that it could be proved that, unlike past governments, the present government did not believe in using the allocation of government advertisements as a means of blackmail or threat against newspapers.