karachi press Club Hunger Strike

karachi press Club Hunger Strike

 Hunger Strike Camp at
 Karachi Press Club Against PECA

Protest to Continue Until Complete Repeal of PECA, Demand Participants
PECA is Not Just a Journalists' Issue, but an Attack on Freedom of Expression

Speakers: Mazhar Abbas, Tahir Hasan Khan, Khurshid Abbasi, Fazil Jamili, A.H. Khanzada, Imtiaz Khan Faran, Javed Chaudhry, Ayub Jan Sarhandi, Saeed Sarbazi, Sardar Liaqat, Manzoor Razi, Liaqat Sahi, Hassan Fatmi, and others.

On the call of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) set up a hunger strike camp, raising slogans against black laws.

Participants, including civil society members, trade union leaders, political figures, and journalist leaders, emphasized the need for complete repeal of PECA to safeguard press freedom and democratic values. They declared that the struggle would continue until PECA is abolished, as it is not just a media issue but a broader attack on freedom of expression.

At the symbolic hunger strike camp organized by KUJ at Karachi Press Club, key speakers included former PFUJ Secretary General Mazhar Abbas, KUJ President Tahir Hasan Khan, PFUJ Vice President Khurshid Abbasi, Karachi Press Club President Fazil Jamili, former President Saeed Sarbazi, PFUJ FEC members Javed Chaudhry and Ayub Jan Sarhandi, former Karachi Press Club President Imtiaz Khan Faran, KUJ General Secretary Sardar Liaqat, and PFUJ Dastoor Secretary General A.H. Khanzada.

Also addressing the gathering were Communist Party leaders Hassan Fatmi and Ramzan Memon, labor leaders Liaqat Sahi and Manzoor Razi, National Party leaders Zulfiqar Ramzani, Shaheena Ramzani, Kulsoom Jamal, Zulfiqar Makhi, and Muhammad Hussain Baloch, along with other senior journalists, legal experts, and academics.

Speakers unanimously rejected PECA and demanded the immediate abolition of all laws restricting media freedom and freedom of expression. Senior journalist Mazhar Abbas, in his address, stated that journalists have been facing restrictions and oppressive laws since 2016 and vowed that the movement against oppression and dictatorship would continue until democratic values and constitutional supremacy are restored.

KUJ President Tahir Hasan Khan called on all democratic forces supporting freedom of expression to join the movement against PECA. The protestors chanted passionate slogans like "No to PECA, No to Black Laws" and pledged to make the anti-PECA movement a success.

The hunger strike camp will continue for two more days.