ISLAMABAD, April 16: The press in Pakistan has never been as free and independent as it has been during two-and-a-half years of this government; even national and international media has acknowledged this fact.

The minister for information and media development, Nisar A. Memon, made these observations in a letter addressed to Ann Cooper, executive director, Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based organization, according to a press release.

The minister said the government of Pakistan had regretted the unfortunate incident involving police and demonstrating journalists in Faisalabad on April 14. Since then, the matter had engaged the attention of both the federal government and the provincial government of Punjab. The governor of the province had already ordered a judicial inquiry into the matter, he added.

Dismissing the notion that the very nature of military rule threatened press freedom in Pakistan, the minister observed that this perception might be created due to the propaganda by some of the opponents of the government.

He also reproduced the observation made editorially by one of the independent dailies recently: “The present dispensation, despite being a military government, has not put undue curbs on the press and has generally been tolerant of dissenting opinion”.

According to the minister, the president has repeatedly and publicly upheld the right of the journalists to report freely, without fear of favour. “Incidents like the one in Faisalabad are unfortunate aberrations and should be treated as such”, he maintained.

It may be added that the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists had written a letter to the president yesterday inviting his attention toward the Faisalabad incident.

CPJ: Condemning the police assault on the journalists in Faisalabad, the Committee to Protect Journalists asked President Musharraf “to issue a public statement upholding the right of all journalists in Pakistan to report freely, without fear of reprisal,” Masood Haider writes from New York.

In a letter faxed to the president on Monday, the New York-based CPJ said that it was “greatly troubled by these attacks,” and added that “based on the sequence of events, we have little doubt that they were inspired by Governor Maqbool’s diatribe against the press.” The CPJ said: “As we have noted before, the very nature of military rule threatens press freedom in Pakistan. Journalists no longer enjoy constitutional protections, and other democratic safeguards have been deeply compromised.”

While appreciating the statement made by the information minister, Nisar Memon, expressing regret over the attack and promising to “take action against the responsible officials,” the CPJ said the results of the investigation ordered by the president into the assault “be made public as soon as possible.”

APNS: The All Pakistan Newspapers Society, in a statement issued in Karachi on Tuesday, criticized the outburst of the Punjab governor against the national press.” It also criticized the physical violence inflicted upon newsmen by the Punjab administration and the police.

APNS president Hameed Haroon and secretary-general Kazi Asad Abid said April 14 was a black day in the history of the press. “April 14, 2002, is a watershed. Beyond this date those who expressed reservations with respect to the military government’s policy towards freedom of press have found their worst fears apparently justified. Not only was the national press publicly denounced for its reportage on President Musharraf’s impending referendum, the Punjab Governor also threatened the press with ‘public’ retribution as a consequence.

“We at the APNS have been watching the increasing hostility of the federal and provincial governments towards the national press, but the strident abuse contained within the governor’s remarks portend danger ahead for a free press.”

The statement said a judicial inquiry might provide some pouring of balm on the injuries of the 23 pressmen but a more categorical series of actions was required to reverse a growing conviction that the atmosphere of press- government relations had been vitiated. The APNS asked the governor to apologies to the people of Pakistan.

LHCBA: A general body meeting of the Lahore High Court Bar Association adopted two identical resolutions on Tuesday condemning the police action in Faisalabad on Sunday, Our Staff Reporter writes from Lahore.

The meeting was presided over by a former president of the association, Khudadad Burki.

Pakistan Bar Council member Hafiz Abdur Rahman Ansari and Punjab Bar Council member Arif Chaudhry presented their resolutions assuring the press of lawyers’ support in maintaining its freedom. A demand for the provincial governor’s resignation was added subsequently.