ISLAMABAD, JANUARY 13: Chairman National Assembly Standing Committee on Information and Media Development Main Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri on Wednesday urged the need to amicably resolve dispute with Jang/The News Group Pakistan’s largest newspapers publishing house.
Kasuri said this at the meeting of the committee he chaired. Minister for Information Syed Mushahid Hussain and several members of the committee and senior officials attended.
When contacted, Kasuri said: ” We have inquired from the minister regarding the dispute with Jang group had already been resolved amicably.
When asked about the Registration of the Printing Press and Publication Ordinance (RPPO), Kasuri said that the NA body called for establishing good relations between the press and the government. “The representatives from the press like the APNS and CPNE will be invited to put forward their point of view before the matter is finalized”, he said.
Information Minister Mushahid Hussain briefed the participants of the meeting on various agenda items. It was also convened to consider the Freedom of Information Bill 1997 (Ordinance No XV of 1997) and the Registration of the Printing and Publications Bill 1997 (Ordinance No ELVII of 1997).
The issue of Jang Group also figured prominently in the recently held Senate Standing Committee on Information. The Senate body, which met under the chairmanship of Senator Raza Rabbani, took a serious note of the action taken against Jang Group newspapers which, prima facie, appeared to an act of victimization.
About the NA committee on information, it was officially said that the committee inquired about the dispute of Jang Group and expressed the desire to resolve the matter amicably in the interest of freedom of press.
The minister informed the committee that Pakistan Muslim League’s government believed in freedom of the press and that the matter regarding Jang Group had already been resolved. He further said that the government of Nawaz Sharif believed in consistent commitment in preserving, protecting and in the promotion of freedom of press.
The committee was informed that a meeting of the representatives of APNS and CPNE was held with Mushahid Hussain to seek their consultation over the freedom of expression, which had yielded the positive results.
The committee appreciated the performance the performance of PTV, which had overcome losses and started earning profits. The committee also appreciated the improvement of PTV programmes.
The chairman Standing Committee expressed the desire that freedom of Information Bill should be promulgated as soon as possible.
Source: The News
Date:1/14/1999
