This is in connection with a news item published in this paper on June 1, 2023 with the headline ‘Notice served on organization for service termination’. The story was one-sided as it did not carry the perspective of the said organization. We regret this mistake/oversight.The organization, Lok Sujag, is a digital media platform which works on the issues of marginalized communities and ignored areas of the country.According to the organization, Ghulam Dastageer, a senior journalist was hired to generate content representing districts of KP, GB and AJK. His job was to commission and edit stories from this region and grow the organization’s presence there. He, however, not only failed to manage the organization’s existing network of local reporters, the network had started complaining about Lok Sujag ignoring them and their areas.
Lok Sujag said in a statement that the management met with Dastageer numerous times during last months of his employment to discuss his performance and “in every meeting, he promised to improve and fulfill commitments of his role and never offered any reason for his poor performance that the organization could have helped him with.”Lok Sujag in its last communication with Dastageer, shared with The News, had clearly listed out its process of engagement with him and the reasons of his termination in the last communication. “We have a clear and detailed record of our due process and are open to any legal accountability”. Lok Sujag is disappointed that Dastageer has instead opted to run a smear campaign against it which is not a very difficult task in this age of social media. “We condemn this and reserve the right to take appropriate legal action.”