On October 16, newspaper distribution across Islamabad was suspended after the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) sealed the newspaper supply market, Akhbar Farosh Market in Aabpara, disrupting newspaper deliveries to readers, government offices and embassies.
In a joint statement, All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) President Senator Sarmad Ali and Secretary General Muhammad Athar Kazi said the Capital Development Authority (CDA) sealed the market without providing a reason or serving prior notice. They noted that the market had served for decades as the federal capital’s central newspaper distribution hub and warned that the closure would disrupt circulation and cause substantial financial losses to media houses and newspaper hawkers. They urged the Interior Minister to intervene and direct the authorities to restore normal operations.
All Pakistan Akbar Farosh Federation Secretary General Tikka Khan said it was a “sad day in the country’s history,” adding that without any “solid reasons,” the market had been sealed due to pending charges of the plot.
The federation’s Punjab chapter president, Aqeel Abbasi, told Dawn that the matter was regarding an empty plot adjacent to the market on the basis of which the DMA has calculated charges. He said it was never allotted or leased to the federation.
Khan and other federation members met Islamabad Chief Commissioner and CDA Chairman Sohail Ashraf to seek intervention, arguing that the closure harmed newspaper vendors and deprived residents of newspapers.
Markazi Akhbar Faroshan Karachi President Muhammad Iqbal Noon and General Secretary Abdul Hameed Dada also condemned the sealing, warning of its impact on newspaper vendors’ livelihoods.
Hawkers and newspaper vendors staged protests at Aabpara Chowk and threatened sit-ins outside the Press Club and CDA headquarters if their demands were not met. The federation also announced that newspaper distribution would remain suspended until the market was de-sealed.
The issue was also raised in the Senate on October 16, where PML-N Senator Sadia Abbasi called on the Ministry of Interior to explain the CDA’s action after newspaper distribution halted.
