Karachi: 31 May 2024 – President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Federal Information Minister Atta ullah Tarar, Chief Ministers , Governors of four provinces.Provincial Information Ministers Punjab, Sindh, KP and Balochistan, have congratulated new office bearers of the only government recognized organization of working editors , Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE) In the annual elections 2024-25.
The government and state officials expressed their trust in the new team to continue their work on information of the general public and guide the government in governance of the country.
The new office bearers include Irshad Ahmad Arif (Daily 92 News Lahore) unanimously elected President, Ejaz-ul-Haq (Daily Express ) Secretary General, Anwar Sajdi (Daily Intekhab Karachi) ) Senior Vice President, Aamir Mahmood (Kiran Group Karachi) Vice President Sindh, Babar Nizami (Daily Pakistan Today Lahore) Vice President Punjab, Tahir Farooq (Daily Ittihad Peshawar) Vice President KPK, Yahya Khan Saduzai (Daily Lead Pakistan) Islamabad) Vice President Islamabad, Muneer Baloch (Daily Nawai Watan Quetta) Vice President of Balochistan, Ghulam Nabi Chandio (Daily Pak Karachi) Deputy Secretary General, Syed Hamid Hussain Abidi (Daily Aman Karachi) Finance Secretary and Zia Tanoli (Daily Final News Lahore) Information Secretary.
Sardar Rafay Khan Niazi. was elected joint secretary (Islamabad), Waqas Tariq Farooq as joint secretary (Punjab), Munazza Seham joint secretary (Sindh), Mumtaz Ahmad Sadiq joint secretary (KP), Arif Baloch joint secretary (Balochistan) are also among the new elected team.
Standing Committee consists of Dr. Jabbar Khattak, Maqsood Yousifi, Qazi Asad Abid, Ikram Sehgal, Tazeen Akhtar, Muhammad Owais Razi, Muhammad Aslam Mian, Sher Muhammad Khawar, Abdul Khaliq Ali, Ahmed Shafiq, Zulfikar Rahat, Shahzad Amin, Sardar Muhammad Siraj, Kazim. Khan, Adnan Zafar, Ayaz Ali Memon, Faqeer Manthar Mangrio, Abdul Rehman Mangrio, Muhammad Akmal Chauhan, Tanveer Shaukat, Dr. Zubair Mehmood, Fazlul Haque, Shakeel Tarabi, Aitzaz Hussain Shah, Ali Ahmed Dhillon, Mahmood Alam Khalid, Ali Hamza Afghan and Syed. Intizar Hussain Zanjani.
Situation Worse in Pakistan for Press Freedom – CPNE Releases “Pakistan Media Freedom Report – 2021”
The newly elected president of CPNE, Irshad Ahmad Arif, thanked the members of CPNE for his election, he said that the government is not ready to listen to critical voices like in the past. The latest example is the Punjab Defamation Bill and Enacting the Electronic Crime Act is tantamount to imposing new restrictions on freedom of press, he said, adding that no law will be accepted without consultation with stakeholders.
He said that the situation is being made worse. The rulers of power want the media to support them, but we will continue to be active with our colleagues as much as possible in this difficult journey for the constitutional and democratic right of freedom of expression and press and our journey, God willing, will continue to fight the situation in a good way in the future. Finally he thanked all the members of CPNE.
Editor Tazeen Akhtar raised the issue of journalists’ security at the annual general meeting of Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors CPNE Karachi 31 May 2024.
He said it seems uniforms has been directed to fix anyone who questions or challenges the authority – In Islamabad , we are living in the range of many forces – Federal Gov , Federal Police, Secret Agencies headquarters, Rawalpindi , Punjab Gov and Punjab Police, Moreover all provinces meet in Islamabad including AJK GB.
Tazeen Akhtar mentioned about the kidnapping of the elder brother of Mateen Haidar and action against Saleh Moghal and Babar Malik while they were doing their duty of coverage of raid on Malik Riaz Hussain’s office at Bahria Town. He emphasized to strengthen the Media Safety Committee of CPNE.
Situation Worse in Pakistan for Press Freedom – CPNE Releases “Pakistan Media Freedom Report – 2021”
