Ehsan Ahmed Sehar Inaugurates Alvi Press Chambers at Samasata
Syed Waqar-ul-Hassan Shah Announces Two Cash Awards for Deserving Journalists of Samasata Press Club on RMNP President’s Request
SAMASATA: President of Rural Media Network Pakistan, Ehsan Ahmed Sehar, inaugurated Alvi Press Chambers at Dr. Qadeer Road, Samasata, on Sunday.
The inaugural ceremony was attended by President of Anjuman-e-Tajran Samasata Syed Waqar-ul-Hassan Shah, office-bearers of the traders’ body, President of Samasata Press Club Muhammad Shahid along with fellow journalists, and other prominent local personalities.
Alvi Press Chambers has been jointly established by Patron-in-Chief of Samasata Press Club Iftikhar Ahmed Alvi, correspondent of Nawa-i-Waqt, and former President of Samasata Press Club Waqar Ahmed Alvi, correspondent of Daily Jang.
On the request of RMNP President Ehsan Ahmed Sehar, President of Anjuman-e-Tajran Samasata Syed Waqar-ul-Hassan Shah announced two cash awards of Rs.10,000 each for two deserving members of Samasata Press Club. It was decided that Samasata Press Club President Muhammad Shahid would convene a meeting within one week to finalize the names of the deserving journalists for the Syed Waqar-ul-Hassan Shah Journalist Support Awards.
Addressing the ceremony, Ehsan Ahmed Sehar observed that, like Pakistani society, the country’s media landscape has also become deeply polarized because of divisions among media unions and media groups, resulting in unresolved problems faced by journalists.
He said that despite repeated demands by media organizations, the government had not withdrawn the controversial amendments introduced under Section 26-A of the PECA law. He stressed that the government should differentiate between those YouTubers spreading anti-state narratives and those exposing corruption, maladministration, and irregularities in government departments.
Ehsan Ahmed Sehar alleged that corrupt officials were misusing the PECA law to conceal corruption and victimize investigative journalists, particularly in remote and far-flung areas. He urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to take notice of the situation and issue necessary directions to the relevant ministries and authorities.
The RMNP President also expressed deep concern that regional and local newspapers were increasingly facing self-censorship because of economic and administrative pressures. He alleged that regulatory mechanisms were being used to remove regional newspapers from central media lists, depriving them of government advertisements and threatening their survival.
He observed that while local media outlets in Europe, the United States, and Canada were being encouraged and strengthened, information departments in Pakistan were allegedly moving in the opposite direction by marginalizing small and rural newspapers.
Ehsan Ahmed Sehar said Pakistani media was passing through a serious crisis, with layoffs in television channels and closure of newspapers continuing, while cybercrime laws were increasingly being used against digital media workers, including WhatsApp users and YouTubers.
He underlined the need to strengthen press clubs established at union council, town, and tehsil levels and demanded simplification of their registration process, which he described as unnecessarily complicated and similar to NGO-style scrutiny.
He appealed to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari to intervene and ensure annual financial support for small press clubs by reforming the registration process.
Ehsan Ahmed Sehar also lauded the role of Patron-in-Chief of Samasata Press Club Iftikhar Ahmed Alvi in the successful implementation of two RMNP training projects conducted in collaboration with UNESCO and DCMF in 2013 and 2018.
Earlier, host Iftikhar Ahmed Alvi, in his welcome address, paid rich tribute to Ehsan Ahmed Sehar for providing training opportunities to district correspondents and rural journalists. He said RMNP was the only press freedom and training organization in Pakistan that had organized seminars and training workshops from district to tehsil and union council levels.
AUJW Vice President Malik Rashid Mahmood Channar and Daily Nawa-i-Ahmedpur Sharqia Office Incharge Muhammad Sajjad accompanied RMNP President Ehsan Ahmed Sehar during the ceremony.
Samasata: Group photo of Ehsan Ahmed Sehar with Patron-in-Chief Samasata Press Club Iftikhar Alvi, President Anjuman-e-Tajran Syed Waqar-ul-Hassan Shah, President Press Club Shahid Mehmood, and office-bearers of Samasata Press Club.
