On June 23, journalists walked out of the National Assembly press gallery in protest against the termination of employees by a major media house, lack of allowances for Radio Pakistan staff, and delayed salary payments to Pakistan Television (PTV) workers. The walkout occurred during the assembly session in Islamabad.
Speaker of the National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq responded by forming a cross-party delegation of parliamentarians to meet with the protesting journalists. The delegation assured the media personnel that their grievances would be taken seriously and efforts would be made to resolve the issues.
Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry told journalists that the concerns of PTV and Radio Pakistan employees would be addressed promptly. He also promised to take up the matter of the terminated media house employees with the management of the organization.
Minister of State for Finance Bilal Kayani pledged full cooperation with journalists and emphasized the importance of timely salary payments. He appealed to the media professionals to end their walkout, while Information Minister Attaullah Tarar is expected to hold a meeting soon to discuss the issue further.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar emphasized that journalism is the fourth pillar of the state and called for timely payments to all media workers. He advised the dismissed employees to seek legal remedy through the High Court.
“We are with journalists, media workers should get their salary on time,” Barrister Gohar remarked.
Earlier, on June 21, journalist unions and media worker associations strongly condemned the mass layoffs carried out by the Jang Group, which shut down several of its publications including Daily Waqt, Awam, Inqilab, and Daily Awaz. The Punjab Union of Journalists (Dastur) reported that 127 employees were terminated in Lahore, 31 in Rawalpindi, and several others in Quetta, without prior notice or severance.
Union leaders including Media Workers Organisation President Adnan Shaukat, PUJ (Dastur) President Muhammad Sabir, and General Secretary Rehman Bhatta condemned the terminations. Lahore Press Club President Arshad Ansari and other officials also criticized the closures, warning of coordinated protests by journalist bodies.
PUJ officials demanded the government suspend advertisements to the Jang Group and called for reinstatement of terminated workers. A meeting has been scheduled at Lahore Press Club to plan the next course of action.
