KARACIM Nov 13: The Sindh Committee of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors on Thursday adopted a resolution unanimously declaring the commitment of the members to press freedom and pledging to fight all forms of direct and indirect threats to freedom.

The meeting took notice of a statement by the Sindh chief minister at a recent Iftar party where he threatened action against newspapers for alleged adverse reporting of the government.

It said the threat runs contrary to the declared stand of the Sindh provincial government and the federal government declaring that the press in Pakistan enjoyed full freedom.
The meeting, which was presided over by Mr Mahmudul Aziz, noted that in the past, too, threats to newspapers and news-men on objective reporting of events and developments have been made by senior government functionaries and have always proved counter- productive. It said the right to criticise and dissent with the objective of bringing about an improvement in the democratic culture , in the province and the country is an objective shared by all democratic forces in the country and should also be shared by the government.
Source: Dawn
Date:11/14/2003