Nadir Guramani June 12, 2018
PPP
leader Farhatullah Babar on Tuesday alleged that there has been a 'creeping
coup' against the civilian government in the lead-up to the 2018 election.
Addressing a seminar organised by the Rawalpindi/Islamabad
Union of Journalists (RIUJ) on freedom of expression and possible threats to
the elections, the former senator noted that both democratically-elected
governments which had completed their terms had sacrificed a prime minister
each.
"A creeping coup has taken place against the authority
of the civilian government. The coup has taken place very quietly before the
election," he said.
"It is different from the martial law of the past, with
two resulting outcomes: the civilian government exists, but has no authority;
press freedom exists, but journalists have no freedom."
"All media has been controlled, whether it is social
media, print media or electronic media. It is all happening very quietly,"
he told the seminar.
"The restrictions from the security establishment are
the greatest. There are also restrictions from non-state actors and your
rulers," he alleged. "The media is being attacked on all
fronts."
"When the 'Dawn leaks' controversy was
published, it was said that it was against national security. A British
newspaper reported on a secret garrison meeting earlier this year, yet no one
is speaking about it," Babar complained.
The PPP stalwart also called for an international conference
on the freedom of expression.
"Parliament should be asked to hold a public briefing
on the matter, and those against whom allegations have been levelled should
also attend the briefing."
"Political parties should, in addition to human rights
agendas, present road maps for press freedom and protection of
journalists," he suggested.
"The civilian and military establishments are not on
the same page. They are on different pages. To close the divide, the
Parliamentary Committee on National Security should play a role.
"Institutions that announce without any investigation
that a journalist has undermined national security should be strongly protested
against, and they should be told that if the journalist has done anything
wrong, then due legal process should be adopted against them," Babar said.
"If I ask how a former army chief received 90 acres of
land, a tweet will be published saying that I am trying to ruin civil-military
ties," he said.
"I fear that deliberate attempts are underway to create
discord among journalists. There will be attempts to break you apart," he
warned.
The
former senator also called for amendments to be made to the existing contempt
and cyber crime laws, and said that suo motu powers should not be abused to
either reward or punish anyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment