Justice Katju appeals to the media to exercise restraint, avoid fanning communal hatred

The following Press Note from Justice Markandey Katju, Chairman, Press Council of India, dated 6.3.2013, sent for publication to this blog, is also relevant to other countries, including Pakistan:

Re: False implication of Muslims in cases of Bomb Blasts, etc.

I have today received the following letter of Mr. Wajahat Habibullah, Chairman, National Commission for Minorities, New Delhi:

‘My years with WAF’ – Zohra Yusuf on the Pakistani women’s movement

Below, an article by Zohra Yusuf, my first editor, with whom I worked at The Star Weekend in 1981-82, outlining the birth of the women’s movement in Pakistan

Lahore, Feb 12, 1983: Police brutality on the women’s demonstration against the ‘Law of Evidence’ catapulted the nascent women’s movement into the limelight. Photo: Rahat Ali Dar

“My years with WAF” 

By Zohra Yusuf | Article written for a souvenir on WAF’s 25th anniversary, Oct 2006

Certain memories are etched on the mind. The birth of Women’s Action Forum is, for me, surely among them. It was on an afternoon in September 1981 that Aban Marker (Shirkatgah) called. She told me about the distressed call she had just received from Najma Sadeque (another SG founding member) regarding the case of Fehmida-Allah Bux. Pakistan’s first sentence of death by stoning and public whipping handed down to a couple under the Zina Ordinance of 1979. We had all read about the sentence and in our individual capacities felt deeply disturbed. After a bit of discussion, we decided to call a meeting of all women’s organizations at Aban’s place. The rest, as they say, is history.

RIP Ayesha Haroon: Clear-sighted courage, grace and laughter

Ayesha Haroon at a friend’s wedding some 20 years ago in Lahore

My obituary of Ayesha Haroon, published in The News on Feb 4, 2013. As one of our friends pointed out, this is the third woman from our lot in The Frontier Post we’ve lost within a year – Maria Del Nevo, Cass Balchin and now, Ayesha.

RIP Ayesha Haroon: Clear-sighted courage, grace and laughter

By Beena Sarwar

Ayesha Haroon, the lively, gutsy former editor of The News Lahore, fought a brave fight for over four years with bone-marrow cancer, succumbing to it on Saturday night in New York. She was just 46. News of her demise has been met with grief and shock by her many friends and colleagues as well as those who only knew her through her clear-headed, courageous columns.

MEDIA/Pakistan: Protect whistleblowers, act against corrupt anchors

 Sign the online petition:

The behind-the-scenes footage leaked from Dunya TV’s ‘interview’ of Malik Riaz conducted by Meher Bokhari and Mubashir Lucman on June 13, 2012 has exposed the corruption of these so-called journalists. Their clear connivance with the interviewee in order to make themselves look blameless is a disgrace to the profession. We commend the whistleblower who leaked this footage and exposed their reality, which is all the more shocking given their self-righteous public stands.We demand:

CFRM letter to editors The News and Jang re: an unethical, false and irresponsible report

The Citizens for Free and Responsible Media, Pakistan, has sent an email to the Editors of The News and Jang regarding an unethical, false and irresponsible report about Ali Dayan’s testimony before the US congressional hearing on Balochistan, in response to a private member’s proposed resolution in the House of Representatives. Text of the email posted in a Note in the CFRM facebook page; also copy-pasted below. (Note: Contrary to the impression given in some sections of the media in Pakistan, the U.S. has not passed any ‘bill’ on Balochistan; even if such a bill does pass, it will have no legally binding status unless it is debated and presented for a vote in the form of a bill that would need to pass through both the lower house and the senate). 

Kamran Shahid’s threat to CFRM signatories…

Kamran Shahid of Express TV sent the following email to Citizens for Free and Responsible Media in response to CFRM’s letter on the Pakistani media and Balochistan that was also emailed to him. Both are posted on the CFRM facebook page. I do wonder what about the letter he found “factually incorrect and harassing” and on what basis he has threatened legal action. Many of the names provided in the letter are well known public figures, should be easy enough to find their addresses if he really wants to.

> From: kamran shahid <kamran.shahid@expressnews.tv>
> Date: Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 12:37 AM
> Subject: Re: Citizens for Free and Responsible Media statement on the media and Balochistan
> To: C4FRM Pakistan <c4frmpk@gmail.com>
> Kindly send your Names and addresses, so that on the basis of your factually incorrect and rather harassing mail, a legal notice will be served > to you in 24 hours.
> *** This Message Has Been Sent Using BlackBerry Internet Service from Mobilink ***

Pakistan: Media and Balochistan – Citizens for Free and Responsible Media statement

Tuesday February 21, 2012: 

Citizens for Free and Responsible Media statement on the Media and Balochistan

To: All TV channel heads, producers and directors, newspaper editors, DG PEMRA, Minister of Information, Prime Minister Pakistan

Summary:
1. We urge the Government to facilitate dialogue by lifting curbs on the media in Balochistan.
2. We call upon the media in Pakistan to address the situation in Balochistan with sensitivity, empathy and fairness and to facilitate a civil discourse.
3. We demand a public apology from Kamran Shahid, the producers of Frontline, Express TV, Barrister Saif and APML and all channels to boycott Mr Saif until he apologises publicly for his remarks. We also urge the APML as a responsible political party to apologise for his excesses.

Citizens for Free and Responsible Media, Pakistan: Summary of media consumer activism

 Summary of media consumer activism in Pakistan from Citizens for Free and Responsible Media, Pakistan, Saturday February 4, 2012:

Citizens’ response: Thank you Mr Siddiqi…

Maya Khan: fired for refusing to tender an unconditional apology

From: Dr Kamran Iqbal (cc’d to signatories below)
Date: Sat, 28 Jan 2012
To: Zafar Siddiqi

Dear Mr Siddiqi,

Thank you for your prompt and courageous response. We appreciate the moral courage of SAMAA TV’s stance. We hope you will continue to lead by example in developing a code of ethics and directives, which you have issued for your channel that we urge, should be made public on your website. You may want to have a look at the code of conduct guidelines of the Society of Professional Journalists, to consult while drafting your guidelines.

Media ethics: Samaa TV’s response to citizens’ feedback and Maya Khan’s refusal to apologise

Maya Khan: fired for refusing to tender an unconditional apology

Following the citizens’ campaign expressing outrage at a Samaa TV morning show’s intrusive and unethical programming, and the host  Maya Khan’s refusal to apologise unconditionally, the channel is taking her show off the air and terminating her contract. BELOW: CEO Samaa TV Zafar Siddiqi’s letter in response to our email to him yesterday. This is the power of collective, visible, non-violent action — and of the social media that helped to spread the word. This will not end here. Media consumers in Pakistan are waking up to their own power, and will continue to lobby for an ethical, responsible media.