Punjab governor opposes passage of controversial defamation law

LAHORE: Punjab Governor Saleem Haider has said that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is against the controversial defamation law passed by the provincial legislature earlier this month.

“I tried to stop the [passage] of the defamation bill as governor,” he said while speaking to the media in Dubai on Sunday. His statement comes a day after interim Punjab Governor Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan signed the bill into law in the absence of Haider.

The Punjab Assembly, on May 20, passed the Punjab Defamation Bill, 2024 amid a strong and noisy protest by the opposition as well as immense backlash from journalists and rights bodies.

“I did not sign the bill. However, it will become law automatically after 15 days,” the incumbent governor added. However, according to him, legislation is required to stop the defamation of people on social media.

Governor Haider also said that he would meet the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the media bodies to address their concerns after returning to the country.

A day earlier, the central Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the media bodies announced boycotting the coverage of government affairs, including official events such as National Assembly and provincial assembly sessions and upcoming federal and provincial budgets to protest the approval of the defamation law.

The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND) held an emergency meeting to discuss the development and decided to record their protest against the law.

Terming the Punjab Defamation Bill, 2024 against human values, the meeting announced to lead a joint struggle against the “black law” and to take effective legal action against it.

The media bodies decided to hold consultations with political parties and bar councils and approach the United Nations and other national and international human rights organisations against the controversial law. They said that demonstrations would be staged outside the relevant government offices in protest against the defamation law.