Minhaj Barna

MOVEMENT CALLED PFUJ

PAKISTAN Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) is a trade Union of working journalists of Pakistan. But its 50 years history proves that it is more than a trade union. It is in fact a movement whose annals are replete with memorable battles both in the field of earning a honorable living wages and waging a relentless crusade for the noble cause of freedom of the press and expression.

While discussing the history of the PFUJ one must not be oblivious of the fact that the organization grew up facing great odds. In Pakistan trade unions have never been allowed to function freely. The feudal-capitalist oriented establishment has always treated them with a pinch of salt incredulously often considering them as ” communist ” and ” subversive “. That is why even today while technically speaking we have the right of association and right of strike these are subject to such restrictive provision that in effect they negate their free exercise.

The successive government has introduced marginal reforms and in essence has ensured protection of the system of exploitation. The one glaring example of this is the vicious system of employment on contract basis legitimised and patronised by the officialdom (both civilian and military) in collusion with the capitalist class. This system deprives the workers of all benefits accruing from the labour laws proving the adage giving by one hand and taking back by another.

In the field of purely economic demands the PFUJ’s past history is marked by memorable milestones such as the 49-day long strike in 1949 in the daily “Sindh Observer” ,Karachi, led by the Sindh Union of Journalists which later played a leading role in the formation of the PFUJ in 1950, the strike in the ” Times of Karachi” 1954, daily “Anjam” Karachi. (1966), daily “Kohistan” Lahore (1969), the hunger strike led by the PPL (Pakistan Times and Imroze) workers union and joined by the PUJ for the reinstatement of the four lower grade employees in January 1977, the historic 10-days countrywide strike for the implementation of the interim award by the Second Wage Board in April 1970, and over 45-days long hunger strike movement in 1974 for the reinstatement of arbitrarily sacked journalists and other employees of the daily “Musawaat” Lahore. This was a countrywide movement resulting in imprisonment of over 300 journalists and press workers.

The 1970 ten-day countrywide strike may be remembered for a number of significant reasons. The main reason of course was the intransigence and refusal by the proprietor’s body (the All Pakistan Newspapers Society) to accept and implement the award announced by the Second Wage Board for 35 per cent interim relief after a decade-long wage freeze. It may be pertinent to note that at that time the Wage Board and its award was legally meant for the journalists alone and did not cover other employees of Newspapers and News Agencies and yet the APNS was not prepared to accept and implement it. This belies and knocks out the genuineness of the APNS’s argument it is advancing at present that it is agreeable to implement the Seventh Wage Board Award to the Journalists but not for the others employees. It was the APNS’s refusal to implement the Second wage Board Award even after losing their petitions in the High Court that the PFUJ had to resort to the weapon of strike.

One may recall how in desperation the fourteen Newspaper editors and proprietors issued a joint statement a few days before the strike began alleging that the strike was inspired by ” Communists and Maulana Bhashani”. They shamelessly asked General Yahya’s Military Government to intervene and take action against the PFUJ and its leaders under Martial Law Regulations.

Another significant aspect of the 1970 strike was that for the first time it provided a joint platform of action for the entire Newspaper workers community-journalists, calligraphists and press workers. As the first and second Wage Board were for journalists alone. PFUJ repeatedly asked the government to either form a separate Wage Board for other workers of the Newspaper industry or include them in the board meant for journalists. The PFUJ’s argument was that a newspaper is produced not only by journalists, but by the collective labour and effort of all the employees of a newspaper establishment who work under the same roof, paid by the same employer, and equally affected by vagaries of socio-economic conditions including the price hike. It was for this reason that the PFUJ’s four-point strike charter included the demand for payment of the interim relief to the non-journalists employees also. It was because of the united struggle of the newspaper industry workers that the strike was successful and the employers were made to pay the interim relief not only to the journalists but to the non-journalists employees as well.

Now the APNS, which earlier boycotted the Seventh Wage Board, is now refusing to implement its award. It is not doing it by invoking the bogy of ” Communist ” or some ” Maulana Bhashani “. It is now raising such hackneyed slogans as ” financial freedom “, ” laissez faire ” and ” democratic dispensation “. When they urge for ” laissez faire”, they infact want ” laissez aller “; that is to say unrestricted freedom to exploit. When it talks of ” democratic dispensation” or ” press control” in respect of the Wage Board, it forgets the newspaper employees ( condition of service) act, 1973 is a legislation passed and adopted unanimously by an elected parliament. It is this act under which the constitution of the Wage Board for newspaper employees is provided. Now both the APNS and CPNE (another name of APNS) are asking a military government to repeal a legislation introduced by a democratically elected parliament. What a concern for democratic dispensation and role of law.

Except for the present U-turn, the APNS has been willy Nilly accepting the Wage Board arrangement for the last forty years since these were first introduced in 1960. And the Wage board was not the creation of a Government fiat. It was a unanimously adopted resolution of the constituent Assembly of Pakistan which asked the Government to appoint a Press Commission to study the conditions of the national press with particular reference to the working conditions of journalists on the lines of Royal Press Commission of Britain .It was in pursuance of a PFUJ’s demand and the constituent assembly resolution that the government appointed a press commission in 1954, which could not function due to rivalry commission was again reconstituted in 1958 under the chairmanship of Justice Tayyabji of the Sindh High Court. It worked with full co-operation of the working journalists and the proprietors and editors and submitted its report in March 1959. It was this commission that recommended the constitution of a Wage Board for working journalists. First Wage Board was constituted in 1960. The Newspaper Employees (Condition of Service) Act, 1973, provided the setting up of the wage board for all newspaper employees as demanded by the PFUJ. During the last forty years that saw seven wage boards and their awards, the newspaper proprietors have prospered enormously. They grew from ” Lakhpati ” to ” Crorpati “, and from ” Crorpati ” to ” Arabpati “. They have expanded their business, brought out new editions of their newspapers from different cities, adding new dailies and periodicals and launching side business ventures thus beefing up their assets and finances in geometrical progression. Add to this the phenomenal increase in their earning from advertisements (increase both in space and rates) and circulation. Keep in view the fact that they increased the per copy price of their newspapers from Rupees One to Ten in the case of Urdu dailies and up to thirteen in the case of English. Some of the newspaper owners are ready to launch T.V. channels and cable networks. And the millions of rupees the APNS’s members used to deposit in their bank accounts through the illegal sale of newsprint, they were receiving in excess of their requirements in the form of quotas granted by the successive governments.

It goes to the credit of PFUJ and its leadership that they never considered their struggle in isolation. They not only worked hard to unite with other employees within the newspaper industry but also strived to close their ranks with toiling masses of other industries and professions at large for the common cause of their welfare and fighting against the forces of exploitation. It was for this objective that the PFUJ was able to first organise the Central Ad-hoc Committee for the newspaper Employees Unions (CACNEU) in 1973 and later established the All Pakistan Newspaper Employees Confederation (APNEC) in 1976. In October 1977, at the initiative of the PFUJ the Karachi Workers Coordination Committee (KWCC) was formed comprising leading trade Union federations of Sindh. The KWCC was expanded into All Pakistan organization known as Pakistan Workers Coordination Committee or Pakistan Mazdoor Rabita Committee at a representative meeting held in Lahore in January 1978 following the gruesome police firing on striking workers of the Colony Textile Mills, Multan, resulting in the death of scores of workers. This was the period of General Zia-ul-Haq’s Martial Law and the official Inquiry Committee appointed to probe into this bloody incident never published its report.

Struggle for a free press

The PFUJ’s constitution makes it obligatory on the part of its members to stand and struggle for freedom of the press. This freedom represents the right to express and communicate freely through the printed words which itself is intrinsically integrated with other basic human rights and freedoms including the larger freedom of expression covering the freedom of speech, assembly and association. Unfortunately, this freedom has been perennially subjected to severe curbs and restrictions. Successive governments that came to power not only perpetuated some of the anti-press and anti-democratic laws inherited from the colonial British rule but introduced more restrictive legislation such as the safety laws, the Security Act of Pakistan, and the Press And Publications( Amendment) Ordinance 1963. While introducing these black laws, the Quaid’s successors forgot what their leader said on the floor of the Central Legislative Assembly of the undivided India on January 28th 1925: “It is nothing else but a disgrace to any civilsed government to resort to a measure of this character (Bengal Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance) and to have freedom of the press on your lips is absurd “.

The PFUJ has been consistently opposing such laws and arbitrary executive curbs on the press in a principled manner regardless of consideration as to what person or parties have been in power. The PFUJ was the first o condemn the passage of the repressive Security Act of Pakistan adopted by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. At its Delegate meeting in October 1953, inaugurated by the President of the Constituent Assembly Maulvi Tameezuddin Khan, the PFUJ strongly slated the Act as ” the most abominable law ever placed on the Statute Book of the country since the partition”. Unveiling the ugly features of the Act a resolution adopted by the meeting said “It confers on the executive power to detain without trial or otherwise victimise any person on a vague charge of prejudicing the external affairs of Pakistan, an undefined offence which even an alien government did not penalise under their most arbitrary laws. ………. The special provisions in the Act to control the national press from the most objectionable part of the Act. It gives the government power to stifle free expression of opinion on external affairs and suppress the dissemination of correct information by forcing newspapers to disclose the source of their information on pain of being thrown into jail. The PFUJ is of the considered view that in a country where the executive is armed with such arbitrary powers there can be no free press and without a free press there can be no true democracy. This meeting therefore demands the repeal of this reprehensible law.”

The advent of Ayubian Martial Law.

With the advent of Ayubian Martial Law regime the press in Pakistan suffered the greatest and the most agonising setback. The regime introduces the blackest law ” The Press and Publications (Amendment) Ordinance, 1963 “. It started its invasion of the Fourth Estate by taking over the independent newspapers, “The Pakistan Times”, ” Imroze” and weekly ” Lail-o-Nahar” belonging to the Progressive Papers Ltd. and owned by the well-known opposition leader, Mian Iftekharuddin, under a Martial Law Ordinance. Not content with these actions the regime went further and brought into existence what came to be known as the ” National Press Trust” (NPT) by taking over at least fourteen established national dailies and weeklies and their chain editions including ” The Pakistan Times” (Lahore and Rawalpindi), “Imroze”(Lahore, Karachi and Multan).

“Morning News” (Karachi and Dacca), ” Dianik Pakistan” (Dacca) and “Mashriq” (Lahore and Karachi). It was obvious that the NPT was established with the aim of controlling the press and setting loyalist and conformist traditions to be followed by others. It was in this period also that the premier news agency, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) was taken over by the Ayub government. The aim for the public consumption was to ” improve the financial and administrative affairs of the agency”. But the real purpose was to control the dissemination of news.

The PFUJ opposed and criticized all these dictatorial measures. It called for a joint action against the Press Ordinance, formed a joint committee with the APNS and CPNE and observed a countrywide protest strike on September 9, 1963. However, the APNS and CPNE (the two are the same commodity except the name and the label) disassociated from the Joint Action Committee and accepted the government’s proposal to frame a so-called “Code of ethics” while the government assured that it will observe a “moratorium” on the use of the Press Ordinance. The government very soon violated its assurance and banned the daily ” Ittefaq”, the opposition paper of Dacca, under the Ordinance. The PFUJ continued to demand the repeal of the PPO and opposed the proposal for adoption of a code of ethics and formation of “Press Council” while anti-press laws remain in force.

The First Press Commission

When the first Press Commission was set up in 1958 (before the advent of General Ayub’s Martial Law in October 1958) the PFUJ presented a detailed memorandum listing its views and suggestions in respect of its economic demands and requirements of a free press. It made, in particular, specific suggestions pertaining to legislations, which affected the journalists in their day to day working and which imposed curbs on the press. The outmoded and anachronistic laws that needed repeal or drastic changes as suggested by PFUJ were:

1. Press Registration of Books Act, 1867.
2. State (Protection against disaffection) Act, 1922.
3. Official Secrets Act, 1923.
4. Press (emergency Power) Act, 1931.
5. Foreign Relations Act, 1932.
6. State protection Act, 1934.
7. Section 124-A and 505 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860.
8. Sections 99-A to 99-G of the criminal procedure code of the sea customs Act 1878.
9. Sections of the telegraph Act 1885.
10. Sections 25, 26 and 27 D of the post office Act 1898.
11. Provisions of the security Act 1952 and provisions of the Law relating to defamation.

The PFUJ in its memorandum to the Press Commission had emphasized: ” Since Pakistan is destined to be a modern democratic state to which the present regime is solemnly pledged, all the existing Laws affecting the press must be thoroughly re-examined and those coming into conflict with the concept of freedom of the press, as enunciated in the United Nations Conventions should be liquidated.

Simultaneously, a new press law should be framed to ensure the growth of a free and health press. What is more important, it must be ensured through legislation that now executive action shall ever be taken against a newspaper or a journalist without reference to a proper court of law”.

Resisting curbs and people’s upsurge (1968-1969)

1968 was a significance year in the history of PFUJ in regards to its struggle for freedom of the press. The entire period of 1968 and beginning of 1969 (Ultimately ending in a new Martial Law of General Yahya Khan) was marked by a great upsurge of the people against the autocratic rule of General Ayub. Desperate and frustrated, the Ayub regime resorted to more and more repressive measures. The noose around the press was further tightened. After banning the daily ” Ittefaq” in 1966, the government closed down weekly “Purbani” Dacca and weekly “Chaatan”, Lahore. Detained journalists without trial, withdrew allotment of official advertisements to ” Nawa-i-Waqt, Lahore, “Ibrat”, Hyderabad and “Pakistan Observer”, “Azad” and “Sangbad” published from Dacca. Besides, resort to the abnoxious system of ” press advise” was made a regular practice and its scope was enlarged even to day to day functioning of newsmen and newspapers.

The Federal Executive Council of the PFUJ in its meeting held in Karachi from December 15 to 17, 1968, reviewed the situation and adopted a detailed resolution, observing: ” In recent months the functioning of the national press as a constructive and democratic instrument of public opinion has become almost impossible. The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that people have loss faith in the printed world and the position of the journalists as watchdogs of society has been compromised. The FEC believes that this constituted greatest peril the national press has ever faced and, therefore, affirms that restoration of press freedom has become ever more imperative than before.” It maintained the present situation is the accumulated result of a series of repressive measures adopted over the last decade to stifle the press.”

The FEC however noted with satisfaction that the working journalists throughout the country in keeping with their traditions of struggle for press freedom, have shown that they have risen to the occasion. During the last two months they have shown that they will never be cowed down. The various meetings, demonstrations, rallies and processions organised during this period and the successful countrywide strike on December 10 have again demonstrated their determination to resist onslaught on the press and carry their struggle for the press freedom through to the end” o In this regard the FEC appreciated the cooperation of press workers, calligraphists, proof readers, and hawkers who had joined hands with the journalists in these demonstrations, and expressed the hope that this unity of the newspaper employees will grow further.

Physical violence.

This period was also marked by physical attacks and resort to violence by the minions of law and order on the one hand, and political opponents of the regime on the other. The target were reporters, press photographers/and even newspaper offices all over Pakistan, particularly at Dacca, Karachi, Lahore and, Rawalpindi. In Dacca, the offices of “Morning News” and ” Dianik Pakistan were burnt down as a result of mob fury. Both papers were the property of government controlled National Press Trust (NPT). The offices of daily ” Unity” and daily ” Insaf ” of Chittagong, and daily ” Kohistan ” of Lahore and Rawalpindi were also attacked and their printing presses and office furniture worth lakhs of rupees were destroyed.

Resisting McCarthyism

In addition to black laws and arbitrary actions of the executive that are used to stifle the press, there are other forces — the political pressure groups and the vested interests not necessarily in authority but at times in collusion with authorities — who always want to impose a conformist line on the press to further their narrow group or class interests. Being an independent and principled trade union the PFUJ has come under attack from these forces from the very beginning.

The period of fifties was marked by vicious campaigns launched in the name of “purging communists and subversive elements” from the Fourth Estate. The witch –hunters included not only persons in authority, the proprietory interests and reactionary politicians but editors like, Majeed Nizami and Altaf Hussain. They even went to the extent of promoting and supporting parallel pocket unions against the PFUJ and its affiliated bodies. Mr. Altaf Hussain, in particular, who later accepted minister ship in the dictatorial military regime of Gen. Ayub Khan notwithstanding his claims of being a ” fearless ” journalist and follower of the Quaide_ Azam, used to threaten and warn staff members against the membership of the PFUJ and KUJ. Journalists with integrity and moral courage like late M.A. Shakoor used to withstand the editor’s threats. There were, however, a few opportunist elements that opted for submitting to the pressure and resigning from the membership of the KUJ and PFUJ. No surprise that such elements still write profusely in praise of Mr. Altaf Hussain and yet present themselves as votaries of press freedom and fundamental human rights.

It may be added here that Mr. Altaf Hussain was the person known to have submitted a list of what he considered as “subversive” journalists to the Intelligence Department through the then Information Minister for ” necessary action”. This was the time when liberal and progressive political workers, writers, journalists, student leaders and trade unionists were being arrested and detained under the Security Act of Pakistan following the signing of economic and military pacts with the United States in 1954.The result was that senior journalists like Messer M.A. Shakoor, Eric Rahim, Ahmed Hasan-all from “Dawn”- and several others were arrested and detained under the Security Act (including the writer of this article).

General Sher Ali’s witch-hunt.

With the advent of Gen. Yahya’s Martial Law perhaps a most vicious and sinister smear campaign was launched against the PFUJ under the direct patronage of the regime’s Information Minister, Gen. Sher Ali. Pampered by the military government some of the reactionary political leaders and vested proprietory interests organised a concerted attack against the leading and active members of the FFUJ. They were assisted in their designs by a couple of dailies and one particular weekly from Lahore. They started clamouring for what they called a ” sweeping purge of all communists and anti-Islam elements” from the newspaper industry, Radio, Television and other institutions”. These were the same people who welcomed the takeover of the ” Pakistan Times” and ” Imroze” by the Ayub regime. One of the prominent leaders like Nawabzada Nasarullah Khan of Majlis-e-Ahrar orientation (now a great champion for democratic polity) went so far as to claim that ” most of the journalists in newspapers, particularly in the NPT papers, are ‘reds’, and, therefore, should be thrown out to safeguard Islam and ideology of Pakistan.” A weekly, “Zindagi” wrote a series of articles against the PFUJ and its leadership and appealed to the Martial Law authorities to dismiss them from jobs. It is interesting to note that these detractors of PFUJ (some of them were paid for their service) were never tired of giving lip service to democratic values and freedom of the press. They are opposed to the use of black laws and repressive measures only when the victim belongs to their own political category or associated with their own vested interest .If a newspaper whose policies are oppose to their own views and interests happens to be victim of executive highhandedness they will not only not oppose it but welcome it wholeheartedly. In fact, when needed they will assume the role of a judge and a prosecutor at the same time.
The PFUJ has been fighting resolutely against all such witch-hunts and attempts at forcing conformism. We believe that such McCarthyist approach is no less fatal to democracy and freedom of the press than the arbitrary actions of an authority in power, or the draconian laws on statute Book.

Gen. Yahya’s Martial Law regime is remembered for the massacre and genocide of our Bengali brethren, the shameful surrender of our generals, and the ultimate dismemberment of the country. In addition to this the PFUJ remembers it as the instrument in the large scale purge of its leaders and active members following the successful conclusion of 10-day countrywide strike for the grant of interim relief given by the Second Wage Board in 1970. About 250 journalists including office-bearers and active members of the PFUJ and its affiliated unions belonging to different newspapers and news agencies in West Pakistan were dismissed from their services by the managements in collusion with the authorities led by the then Information Minister, Gen. Sher Ali. The journalists thus dismissed belonged to such leading newspapers as the Pakistan Times, Imroze, Morning News, Jang, Nawa-i-Waqt, and Mashriq.

The Bhutto era.

At the time when the large scale purge of journalists was carried out during Yahya regime, the leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Mr. Zulfikar All Bhutto who was basking in the warmth of victory of 1970 general elections in West Pakistan strongly condemned the purge and promised to reinstate the victimised newsmen as and when his party came to power. He must be given credit for keeping his pledge. On his instruction Mr. Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, PPP’s first Information Minister was able to make the APNS to agree to reinstate the sacked journalists.’ But Mr. Bhutto and his party failed to honour their commitments in respect of repealing the draconian laws, particularly the Press and Publication Ordinance, dismantling of the National Press Trust, and making the electronic media independent of government control. It came as a disappointment for the PFUJ and the people at large that notwithstanding the pledges made in the PPP manifesto, the party’s foundation papers, and the statements of its leaders before the elections the PPP government failed to raise to the occasion. Only two months after coming to power the government whose one of the main slogans was “democracy is our polity ” banned two weeklies and one monthly of Lahore, namely the “Punjab Punch”, ” Urdu Digest” and “Zindagi” under a Martial Law order (Mr. Bhutto at that time was both the President and the Chief Martial Law Administrator). Under the orders their editors were not only jailed but were debarred from editing any paper for the next ten years. They were not given a chance to be tried in an open court under the normal laws of the land. The PFUJ, despite the fact that editors of both “Zindagi” and ” Urdu Digest” viciously attacked the PFUJ and its leaders in the past, condemned the government action and urged for lifting of the ban on the journals and release of their editors. The editors were released and the ban was declared void.

The government gradually started drifting towards the path of its predecessors and relying more and more on the repressive extraordinary laws such as PPO, the DPR, the MPO and the notorious system of press advice in addition to the policy of punishing the dissenting newspapers by depriving them of official advertisements or curtailing their newsprint quotas. The latter method of punishment was used in the case of ” Guardian”, Peshawar, and ” Outlook”, Karachi. At one time the newsprint quota of weekly ” Alfatah” was totally cancelled. This period was also marked by the arrest of Chief editor “Dawn”, Mr. Altaf Gauhar and the printer and publisher of the paper. The PFUJ had been a vocal critic of the role of Mr. Altaf Gauhar during the days of Ayub Khan when he used to be Information Secretary. However, the manner in which Mr. Gauhar was harassed and arrested again and again under the DPR for following a policy critical of the government could not be justified. How he was rehabilitated after his release and made to relinquish the editorship is another story.

In 1973, the PPP Government banned the dailies “Hurriyat”, “Jasarat” and ” Mehran” under the PPC. The PFUJ observed a countrywide strike in protest and urged the Government to lift the ban and release their editors. This period was also known for attacks on PFUJ and its leaders by the official media and its lobbyists. The PPP Government’ s Information Minister, Maulana Kausar Niazi, also indulged in the futile excercise of setting up a so-called ” Press Council” in the footsteps of Ayubian traditions which remained a paper arrangement and never worked. The Government also appointed a Press Commission headed by the then Attorney General Yahya Bakhtiar. It also turned out to be stillborn as the PFUJ boycotted it on the ground that a Press Commission headed by an attorney general cannot be independent and judicious, as he is a paid government servant.

Gen. Zia’s anti-press regime.

Perhaps the worst the press suffered was during the Martial Law administration of General Zia-ul-Haq legitimised under a Supreme Court judgment in the name of the so-called ” Law of Necessity.” But while this period may be remembered for its oppressive measures including long spell of censorship banning of independent and dissenting newspapers, arrest of editors and journalists , sentencing them to rigorous imprisonment under Martial Law regulations and even whipping them, it was also marked by memorable resistance put by the journalists and press workers led by the PFUJ and APNEC. This great struggle unprecedented in the annals of the Fourth Estate the world over began towards the end of November 1977 in Karachi only about five months following the advent of Gen. Zia’s Martial Law. The PFUJ’s struggle was triggered by the government’s ban on publication of Daily ” Musawaat”, Karachi. After the failure of efforts to convince the Martial Law authorities to lift the ban , the PFUJ and APNEC launched a campaign of hunger strike in Karachi from first of December 1977 o And within eight days of the struggle in which journalists and press workers from all over the country participated the government surrender and lifted the ban.

Egged on by its oppressive nature, the government again took recourse coercive methods against the dissenting press and banned the daily ” Musawat”, Lahore , and weeklies like ” Al-Fatah” and ” Meyar” and others, critical of the Martial Law regime. After the failure of protracted negotiations with the Government the national executives of PFUJ and APNEC decided to launch countrywide hunger strike movement from Lahore commencing from 30th April, 1978. The charter of demands included restoration of banned newspapers, release of “Musawat” editors, Messers Badaruddin and Zahir Kashmiri, and the paper’ s printer, Mir Jamilur Rahman, and reinstatement of dismissed journalists including office-bearers of PFUJ and APNEC employed in the government controlled NPT newspapers.

The historic movement was spread over two stages: one beginning in Lahore from April 30 and ending on May 30 and, the second beginning in Karachi from July 18 and ending on October 10, 1978. The two had their own distinct and memorable features marked by common inspiring spirit and enthusiasm. In the first phase’ in Lahore, the journalist and press workers who joined the hunger strike were arrested and sentenced under Martial Law Regulations from six months to one year rigorous imprisonment including three who were ordered to be flogged (Nasir Zaidi, Khawar Naeem Hashimi and Iqbal Jaferi were in fact flogged. The fourth, Masoodullah Khan was spared on the intervention of the doctor in view of Mr. Masood’s disability. It was during this stage that after having failed to suppress the movement for press freedom the military regime picked up the four renegades from the PFUJ and APNEC to create parallel PFUJ and APNEC pocket organisations known as ” Rashid Siddiqui Group”.These renegades who were given full publicity on official media supported the government and condemned the PFUJ’s struggle for press freedom exposing their true colours. As a result of the movement the government was forced to lift the ban on ” Musawat ” Lahore and release the arrested Journalists and Press workers by May 3oth but refused to reinstate the dismissed newsman from NPT papers. In addition, the government again banned ” Musawat ” Karachi. The PFUJ then at its meeting on June 12 at Karachi decided to resume the struggle from July 18, 1978.

The resumed struggle which started in Karachi with the arrest of PFUJ and APNEC President continued until 10th of October (almost two months and 25 days) had its own memorable features. For besides the journalists and press workers who came from all over the country to court arrest, scores of trade union workers, students and militant haris from interior of Sindh joined the movement and filled almost all the jails of Sindh. (During the Lahore struggle the arrested journalists and press workers were disbursed to almost all the jails of the province of Punjab). The Sindh phase of movement would also be remembered for the mass hunger strike unto death inside the jails. The hunger strike culminated in the acceptance of most of the APNEC-PFUJ demands by the Government. As a result “Musawaat” Karachi resumed its publication, arrested persons were released, and most of the 30 dismissed journalists of the NPT papers (Pakistan Times and Imroze) were reinstated (only four including the President of the PFUJ and APNEC were not taken back).

It was also during Gen: Zia-ul-Haq’s regime that ten senior journalists and office-bearers of the PFUJ belonging to the NPT papers – the Pakistan Times, Imroze and Mashriq – were similarly dismissed from service because they signed an appeal for ” Peace in Sindh ” when the government repressed and persecuted the people indiscriminately during the 1983 MRD Movement. The signatories to the appeal also included some 50 writers and poets on whom the doors of Radio and Television were closed as punishment. The journalists who were punished included Masood Ashar , Shafqat Tanvir Mirza , Azhar Javed , Mrs. Rakhshinda Hasan , Badarul Islam Butt, Aziz Mazhar , Aurangzeb, Mumtaz Ahmad , I.H. Rashid and Riaz Malik(late).This clearly proved that the Zia Government was callous and insensitive to the basic human rights of the people notwithstanding with its claim for Islamic justice . It was during this period that a most abominable version of the press censorship was imposed on newspapers wherein even Quranic verses and Prophet’s hadiths used to be censored if they reflected in any way on the person of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq regime or his policies.

Benazir-Sharif decade

The period from 1989 to October 12, 1999 saw the rule of two civilian governments headed by Prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif – both having the opportunity to handle the country’s administration twice. Although this period was not as worry -some for the press as the years of the three military governments, it was not totally free from executive excesses and highhandedness. For instance, during its second tenure of the PPP government, banned the publication of six dailies of Karachi ( Awam, Qaumi Akhabar, Public, Aghaz, Evening Special and ) in one stroke under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (MPO) arbitrarily. Though the ban was lifted within days it proved two points. One, that despite their claims and commitment for democratic dispensation and freedom of the press even the civilian governments in Pakistan have been allergic to and intolerant of criticism and exposure of their misgovernance.

Two, that in addition to the hated Press and Publication Ordinance (now modified and made toothless, therefore not being used) there are several other undemocratic Laws on the statute book such as MPO, Official Secret Act, Security Act etc which can be used by the governments against newspapers and journalists in pursuit of their arbitrary actions. Similarly, the manner in which the management of the Jang Group of newspapers was harassed and the editor of the “Friday Times”, Mr. Najm Sethi was arrested and detained incommunicado and tortured by the government of Nawaz Sharif was reminiscent of methods used by fascist regimes. The PFUJ and APNEC not only condemned these vindictive actions strongly but held countrywide protest rallies. The government was ultimately forced to withdraw their actions .An interesting side event of this episode was that the management of the Jang group of newspapers which desperately sought the support of the PFUJ and APNEC in its fights against the government assured in writing to do away with the contract system and regularise all employees on contract as soon as the issue was settled with the government. But when the issue was settled the management conveniently forgot what it gave in writing. This period, however, saw the welcome development of revision of the infamous Press and Publications Ordinance resulting in deletion of most of its draconian clauses.

But the revised law still remains a piece of bureaucratic rigmarole and needs further pruning to make it simpler and less cumbersome in tune with the press laws in democratic countries.

The Present situation

The PFUJ has never favoured extra constitutional and authoritarian governance regardless of its form- military or Civilian. For it strongly believes that without a constitutional framework and democratic dispensation rooted in the consent and aspirations of the people protecting and promoting their fundamental interests, freedom of the press and expression cannot flourish. The PFUJ has seen and faced stringent martial law regimes as well as autocratic civilian governments and courageously fought for a free press and workers’ rights and its crusade offered great sacrifices.

It also believes that both the struggle for freedom of the press and struggle for workers economic and other rights are inseparable from each other as they are integral elements of their fundamental human rights. The main essence and objective of these human rights is to establish a civil society free from oppression, injustice and exploitation. These days it is a fashion to use the term ” civil society ” in a totally abstract manner. If the majority of the people of a society i.e. the workers, peasants and middle classes are oppressed and exploited that society can neither be civil nor democratic howsoever it may be labelled. The Pakistani society from its very inception has been under a system of oppression and exploitation. The system is multi-facet. It is both feudal and capitalistic as well as neo-colonialist operating through the international financial institutions like the IMF, World Bank, and indeed the so-called globalization. Unfortunately most of our ruling classes — military as well as civilian –, the big business , the big feudal , the upper echelons of the bureaucracy and even some of the NGOs funded by foreign donors are sold out to this system of exploitation. They are the defenders of status quo in the name of Islam, democracy, stability and human rights.

The attitude of the Musharraf government towards the print media has been so far permissive. They have been tolerating criticism much against their grain. However they have kept a tight control over the electronic media -Television and Radio – wherein the views and news in opposition to the government are not permitted, as was the case during the civilian regimes. However the stringent manner in which the military government has banned trade union and political activities and imposed its own concept of selective accountability and justice is reflective of its authoritarian and oppressive nature.

Before concluding, reference in passing may be made to the reported agreement between the Information Ministry and the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (over 90 per cent proprietors i.e. publishers who have nothing to do with the editing of the newspapers) regarding formation of a Press Council. According to newspaper reports the Government and the CPNE have already agreed on the draft ” law ” of the Council which can be established anytime through an Ordinance. The draft has been kept a tightly closed secret and has not been publicised with a view to soliciting public opinion on its constitutional framework and the code of ethics it has to follow. Now this is the sixth or seventh time since 1963 (following the introduction of the infamous Press Ordinance) that a ” Press Council ” or a ” Press Court of Honour ” with a Code of ethics for the print media alone is being given birth to – the Government always being the midwife (though the babe always proved to be still-born). The PFUJ in principle has never been against the formation of an independent and non-governmental press council with an agreed code. But its position has been that in a country where the executive is armed with extraordinary coercive laws, which could be used to stifle the press ,and where the authorities and the electronic media are not bound by any code of ethics, formation of a press council would amount to chaining the press doubly. And the PFUJ continues to stick to this position.

According to reports the press council being set up by the government-CPNE-APNS combined will neither be independent nor self -regulatory as it will be a statutory body fully funded by the government and largely manned by the proprietors. In democracies like UK, Germany and France the press councils are non-governmental, genuinely independent, self-regulatory and financed by press bodies themselves. And their indeed are no coercive laws like MPO and where the electronic media is also governed by an agreed democratic code.