Leaders of the opposition party fired a broadside against the recently-enacted Prevention of Electronic Crimes Amendment Act (Peca), terming it a law to gag the media and usurping the people's fundamental right of freedom of expression.
Addressing a seminar on 'Challenges Facing the Media in Pakistan', organised by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman termed PECA act a bland act.
Fazl said that the government should not make a code of conduct for journalists, rather it should be prepared by the journalists themselves. He added that every dictator had violated the sanctity of the Constitution, democracy, and parliament.
Speaking at the seminar, Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai said that fake people had been brought to parliament, who were only taking orders and not representing the people. He praised the efforts of Fazl in the passage of a balanced 26th Constitutional Amendment.
He added that even if the current government withdrew the Peca Act, it won't be acceptable. He said that the movement against the government should not stop. The Peca Act, he said, was brought to eliminate fake news and asked what the remedy was when the government lied to the people.
Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) chief Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said that one pillar of the legislature fell, when parliamentarians were picked up in the night. All the amendments that had been passed were not possible had the political parties were not hypocritical.
"We will fight for the rights of the people and we will succeed. This parliament has lost its worth, the government has collapsed, and the last pillar, journalism, has also been attacked through PECA. They want this society to become deaf and dumb," he added.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ