MQM-P assures journalist bodies of its support against defamation bill

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has assured journalist organisations of its support for their movement against the defamation bill recently passed by the Punjab Assembly.

The development came on Monday when representatives from various journalist organisations of the country called on MQM-P chief Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and other leaders at the party’s Bahadurabad office.

The meeting was attended by MQM-P leaders Dr Farooq Sattar, Syed Aminul Haque, Syed Faisal Subzwari, and officials from the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors, Pakistan Broadcasters Association, Karachi Union of Journalists, and presidents and officials of the Lahore and Karachi press clubs.

According to a spokesperson for the MQM-P, the journalist organisations expressed their concerns to Siddiqui over the defamation bill and electronic crime bill. The MQM-P leaders said their party wanted transparency and due consultations before enacting any law.

Dr Siddiqui commented that not consulting with relevant organisations in the defamation bill that was passed by the Punjab Assembly was equivalent to breeding distrust. “There should be no opposition to the law itself, but all stakeholders should be consulted to make the current law workable,” he said, adding that the bill should be immediately withdrawn in order to initiate the consultation process.

“The MQM-P will never stand by any law that provides protection to the elite and reaches the necks of the weak,” he added. He assured the journalistic bodies of his support for their legitimate demands and assured them that MQM-P would raise this issue at various forums, including the federal cabinet.