KUJ, APNEC express reservations over Sindh commission for journalists

The Karachi Union of Journalists (Workers) and the Karachi chapter of the All Pakistan Newspaper Employees Confederation have expressed their reservations over the establishment of the Sindh Commission for the Projection of Journalists.

In a statement, they said the commission did not have the representation of all journalists. They said the biggest stakeholders were journalists and media workers, but the commission did not have the representation of professional journalists.

KUJ-Workers president Shakil Yamin Kanga and general secretary Sabir Ali, and APNEC Karachi Chairman Dara Zafar said that all people were not included in consultations for the preparation of the Sindh Journalists Projection Bill and its approval by the Sindh

Assembly.

Shakil Yamin Kanga has been elected unopposed as the president of Karachi Union of Journalists Workers (KUJ-W) and Syed Sabir Ali as the general secretary.

The elections were scheduled for November 15 but several office-bearers were declared successful without polling as there was no other candidate for the post. According to Election Committee Chairman Dara Zafar, the office-bearers who were elected unopposed included Muhammad Kamran Zahri and Afzal Warsi for the vice presidents, Syed Tanveer and Muhammad Naseem for the joint secretaries and Jafar Hussain for the finance secretary.

The elected members of the executive council included Ahmed Ali Haidari, Afzal Sindhu, Abdul Ghaffar Rao, Nasheed Afaqi, Farhan Adil, Erum Zaidi, Tasadduq Ghori, Azhar Ali Baig, Ali Abbas, Javed Iqbal and Mohammad Shoaib Sharam.

The election committee comprised Rana Muhammad Yusuf and Saeed Mohiuddin. They said they had asked for full representation of journalists on the commission, but the notification issued by the provincial government showed that the commission had given representation to government departments and owners of media owners.