PFUJ vows to defend press freedom, workers’ rights

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) Tuesday expressed its resolve to continue struggling for the freedom of press, apart from safeguarding rights of journalists and media workers.

May 13 is observed as day of remembrance, for four journalists, who were sentenced to five public-lashes (each) and imprisonment in 1978, during General Zia-ul-Haq’s dictatorial regime.

The PFUJ has called for a joint strategy to achieve press freedom in the country and defeat the government’s fascist approach against media. In a joint statement, PFUJ President Shahzada Zulfiqar and Secretary General Nasir Zaidi urged the journalist community to unite against the forces of oppression, otherwise these objectives will be difficult to achieve. “We have always fought for our rights; freedom of expression is our constitutional right and the struggle for it will continue till the end,” the statement said. “Censorship and press advice was never accepted by our leadership in the past and we will continue to follow them in pursuit of our goals,” they added.