Journalist Bodies Hail Sindh Bill’s Approval Against Harassments, Attacks
By Our Web Reporter
KARACHI– The Karachi Press Club, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and Karachi Union of Journalists have termed the approval of the ‘Sindh Protection of Journalists and Other Media Practitioners Bill 2021’ by the Sindh Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Parliamentary Affairs as an important development.
The bill was sent to the committee by the speaker after it was introduced in the Sindh Assembly. In a joint statement issued on Monday, Karachi Press Club President Fazil Jamili, Secretary Muhammad Rizwan Bhatti, PFUJ President GM Jamali, Karachi.
Fahim Siddiqui, general secretary of the Union of Journalists, Aajiz Jamali, secretary of the KUJ, and Rashid Aziz, president of the Karachi Union of Journalists (Dastur), said that the Journalists Protection Bill was drafted in consultation with journalists’ organizations and would become law.
Journalists and other media workers will be protected from all forms of pressure, harassment, intimidation and attacks.
Under the law, journalists and other media workers will have the power to lodge a complaint with the Commission for the Protection of Journalists.
The journalist leaders appreciated the efforts of the Sindh government in preparing the bill for the protection of journalists and other media workers and expressed hope that the bill would be passed into law in the current session of the Sindh Assembly.
It may be recalled that the Sindh Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Parliamentary Affairs reviewed the bill on protection of journalists in a meeting chaired by Chairman Pir Mujeeb-ul-Haq on Monday and approved the bill.
The bill will be tabled in the Sindh Assembly this week for approval. The meeting was attended by Legal Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab, Sajid Jokhio, Gahnoor Khan, Heer Soho, Ghazala Sial and other members. Representatives of journalistic organizations Fazil Jamili, GM Jamali, Mazhar Abbas, Fahim Siddiqui, Aajez Jamali and Rashid Aziz also attended the meeting.
