LAHORE: Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) President Rana Muhammad Azeem, Secretary General Shakeel Ahmed, Secretary Finance Shahr Bano and members of the Federal Executive Council have strongly condemned the registration of unnecessary FIRs against journalists in Azad Kashmir and expressed solidarity with the journalists of Azad Kashmir and have given an ultimatum to withdraw the FIR within 48 hours.
The PFUJ leadership says that it is the privilege of a journalist to ask questions while doing responsible journalism and it is the responsibility of government officials to answer them, but instead of answering the questions raised against them, taking action against journalists is highly unacceptable.
According to the incidents, some allegations were made and questions were asked to Azad Kashmir’s responsible Shaukat Nawaz Mir in an interview and instead of answering them, he has filed an application at the police station to file an FIR against the journalists, which is being protested by the journalist community and civil society in Azad Kashmir.
The journalists are of the view that the government should conduct a completely impartial and transparent investigation into this matter so that the facts can be brought to the fore.
The PFUJ leadership has expressed solidarity with the journalists of Azad Kashmir and said that they stand by them, such measures are against freedom of the press and are tantamount to suppressing the voice of journalists, which is unacceptable.
The PFUJ leadership has demanded that the Azad Kashmir government refrain from taking any action against journalists who are bringing the truth to light and that an investigation be conducted against Shaukat Nawaz Mir and the truth should be brought to light, otherwise the PFUJ will protest across the country.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists President Rana Muhammad Azeem said in his video statement that he was extremely saddened when Shaukat Nawaz Mir filed an FIR against senior journalists Abrar Haider Shah and Mujtaba Butt for asking questions.
He said that as the President of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, I condemn this move. Shaukat Nawaz Mir’s efforts are in place, but an attack on freedom of the press in the form of an FIR will not be tolerated.
Rana Azeem said that if Shaukat Nawaz Mir does not apologize for this and does not withdraw the FIR application and the action committee does not take action against Shaukat Nawaz Mir, journalists from Pakistan and the world will protest vigorously. We will not tolerate such high tactics.
He demanded an investigation from the Azad Kashmir government and gave Shaukat Nawaz Mir a deadline of 48 hours and said that if the FIR is not returned within 48 hours, a full protest will be held.
