ISLAMABAD – Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto has stated that his party is the pioneer of introducing freedom of press in Pakistan and reiterated commitment to the freedom of press and freedom of expression without any compromise on its principles.
“Dictators always gagged the press. They even resorted to the attacks on journalists and media houses but the PPP always stood by the journalist community and fought together with them during the dictatorial regimes and their draconian anti-press laws,” he said in his statement on the World Press Freedom Day being observed across the globe.
He said that the PPP leaders, workers and journalists waged a shoulder-to-shoulder struggle for democracy and press freedom, ending up in prisons and police lock-ups.He expressed apprehension over the lack of security to the media persons, especially in the terrorist-hit regions and asked the federal and provincial governments to ensure fool-proof security to the working journalists and also welfare of their community.
He said that the PPP has proved to be the most tolerant political party in Pakistan, which always respected the honest and constructive criticism and never resorted to violence even when its top leadership was subjected to ruthless media trials and defamations.
“We are harbingers of democratic values and we shall stick to it to promote freedom of press,” he said. He assured the journalist fraternity that the PPP will always lead from the front in any struggle against any move aimed at muzzling the press and media in Pakistan.
According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), at least 115 journalists have been killed in Pakistan since 2000. Pakistan is ranked as the fourth deadliest country for journalists, but they have not given up the fight.
