KARACHI- President of the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE) Mujibur Rahman Shami and Secretary-General Mahmudul Aziz urged the Sindh government to withdraw ban on publication of two Karachi-based Urdu dailies, the Morning Special and the Evening Special.

In a statement issued here, they said the CPNE has always maintained that the government should not take drastic measure of banning publication of any newspaper and any action against the newspapers and their editors and printers should be taken under the normal laws of the land with proper show-cause notices before any such action.

The CPNE president and the secretary-general said that the government had time and again reiterated its commitment to freedom of press in Pakistan. The CPNE has always maintained that all matters between the government and the newspapers need to be discussed and resolved through dialogue.

The CPNE is also fully aware of the need for adherence to the CPNE’s approved code of ethics by its member publications. The CPNE, they said, is again reminding all the member publications to adhere to the code of ethics — a plea that was also made vehemently to all member publications at its annual meeting in Lahore last month. The two CPNE office-bearers appealed to Sindh Governor Muhammadmian Soomro to review the action and resolve the issue through a dialogue with the CPNE at the earliest, in the interest of working relationship between the print media and the government and release the arrested editors.

Source: The News
Date:7/19/2002