Freedom of Press & Speech Archive

Rezaul Hasan Laskar: An Indian journalist in Pakistan embedded in ISI’s narratives: Disclaimer: While we may not agree with the entirety of this post, we nonetheless are concerned about how foreign correspondents in Pakistan are gradually embedded in the wishy washy, vague, ambiguous discourse developed by the ISPR mouthpieces in Pakistani
On PTI’s jihad against Ataul Haq Qasmi: Related post: Imran Khan’s PTI is the most civilized political party in Pakistan? Supporters and fans of PTI’s chairman Imran Khan are currently busy in abusing, threatening and harassing veteran writer and columnist Atta-ul-Haq Qasmi only because Mr. Qasmi
The strange case of Laibaah Ahmad Marri – by Sumantra Maitra: Cross-posted from TheLatest.com Citizen Journal For the uninitiated, Laibaah Ahmad Marri is a US based, Baloch activist, who was suspended from Twitter. The interesting part is, she was suspended, for the “fourth” time, after being reported as a “bot”…even
Story of Laibaah: Death of free speech in Pakistan – by Sumantra Maitra: Cross-posted from Daily World Watch Hey guys! Yet another of my post starting with a “sorry” to you all. I have not been regular, I know, guilty as charged. Preparations of shifting to New Zealand, being one of the
Channels refuse to play Laal’s “too anti-army” song: Editor’s note: Laal is amongst very few honest and bold voices in Pakistan who are equally critical of Pakistan’s almighty military establishment and their jihad enterprise (Taliban, LeT, SSP etc). We express our full support to Laal’s contribution to
EU Council conclusions on Pakistan: Summary: 18 July 2011, Brussels – Council of the European Union 3106th FOREIGN AFFAIRS Council meeting conclusions on Pakistan The Council adopted the following conclusions: 1. The EU reaffirms its commitment to building a strong long-term partnership with Pakistan,
CARTE BLANCHE: Defaming Pakistan —by Mehmal Sarfraz: It is said that a wounded animal is most dangerous. Our military is behaving like a wounded animal and trying to shut down all dissenting voices. The military operation in Balochistan is a clear example of how the army
Human rights activist @Laibaah silenced by Urban Elite Tweeples – by Alamdar Ahmad Mengal: Editor’s Disclaimer: While we may not agree with some of the contentions offered in this post, we wholeheartedly support the principle of Free Speech and condemn those fascists who ganged up to silence Laiba Marri’s voice on Twitter ……….
Threatening telephone call from a proxy of Pakistan army – by Ali Raja: Related post: Prominent anchor abuses during a mental breakdown suffered from defending the indefensible! hum kahan ke tha dana, kis hunar mein yakta the be sabab hua Ghalib dushman asman apna (Ghalib) Brigadier Siddiq Salik while recounting his memories
Najam Sethi: Geo’s Catch-22? – by Noha Beig: Last night (Tue, 19 April 2011) Najam Sethi’s show, Aapas Ki Baat, on Geo-News went off the air when Sethi was talking about agencies propping up Imran Khan. It returned after almost 10 minutes of ads. Its host said
Murder of Bahraini blogger Zakria Rashid al-Asherri by the US-Saudi puppet Hamad Al Khalifa: Related articles: Pakistani bloggers demand release of Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al-Yousif Iranain blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi dies in prison. Time to support bloggers in Iran Bahrain buries dead blogger as government crackdown continues LUBP Archive on Bahrain Hundreds of mourners
Pakistani bloggers demand release of Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al-Yousif: Related article: Iranain blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi dies in prison. Time to support bloggers in Iran LUBP condemns the arrest of prominent Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al-Yousif by the martial law dictator (Bahraini King Hamad) and the Saudi invader (King Abdullah).
Are we building abusive Pakistan? – by Ahsan Abbas Shah:
Deny the Holocaust and go to prison – by Kourosh Ziabari: Those who think that Europe is a “beacon of freedom” and “heaven of liberty” should give themselves an opportunity to reconsider what they had simplistically believed for so long. Tens of people, including high-ranking academicians and authors from various
Geo TV gets censored…by Geo TV: Najam Sethi’s show and the out of bound topics – by Maula Bux Thadani: Related articles: LUBP Archive on Najam Sethi GEO TV often paints itself as the underdog, the scrapper that is crusading against the “all-powerful” President and Prime Minister.  Even if this image is laughable in the light of the billions of
Freedom of hate speech? – by Nadeem F. Paracha: Loose cannons In countries where democracy hasn’t had the time to strike root in political institutions and the social psyche, there is always the danger of it becoming a backdoor sanctuary for mobs of intolerant thugs who are the
Hamid Mir criticizes Najam Sethi and Khaled Ahmed: میڈیا کے خلاف میڈیا کا جھوٹ حامد میر پاکستان کا میڈیا چاروں سے حملے کی زد میں ہے۔ پاکستانی میڈیا کے وہ تمام ادارے اور شخصیات جو اپنے عوام میں مقبول ہیں انہیں امریکہ اور بھارت کی حکومتوں کی
WikiLeaks, journalists and that elusive public interest -by Jonathan Holmes: Related articles: Progressive Pakistani bloggers in support of Julian Assange Don’t shoot the messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths – by Julian Assange Assange: charges are part of campaign to close down WikiLeaks, he vows to fight extradition Julian Assange’s
Terrorists win if Julian Assange and WikiLeaks are silenced, supporters plan protests worldwide: Related articles: Progressive Pakistani bloggers in support of Julian Assange Don’t shoot the messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths – by Julian Assange Assange: charges are part of campaign to close down WikiLeaks, he vows to fight extradition Julian Assange’s
Times of universal deceit — by Dr Mohammad Taqi: The US government has now ordered all its employees to stay away from the WikiLeaks website even on their home computers and not read what the government still considers classified information. Big Brother keeps digging itself deeper into a
Don’t shoot the messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths – by Julian Assange: Related articles: Progressive Pakistani bloggers in support of Julian Assange Assange: charges are part of campaign to close down WikiLeaks, he vows to fight extradition “We Liberals strongly support Julian Assange and the democratic spirit and meaning behind his
Assange: charges are part of campaign to close down WikiLeaks, he vows to fight extradition: Related articles: Progressive Pakistani bloggers in support of Julian Assange Two plus two WikiLeaks claims the arrest is an attack on media freedom, but it is worth pointing out that one of the claimants making the sexual assault allegations
Blessed are the WikiLeaks revolutionaries —Babar Ayaz: Related Article: Progressive Pakistani bloggers in support of Julian Assange It is ironic that the Saudis have labelled Zardari as a “rotten head”, while their whole body polity is rotten. This comment is like the pot calling the kettle
Why do we publish on LUBP what we do? – by Abdul Nishapuri: Nugget 1 Sheen Alif recently asked: The progressive blog should come clear on how they view the Baloch insurgency, as publishing a piece on Lala Hameed Baloch and another condemning BLA just on assumptions in one breath is not
US Annual Report Says Religious Freedom Under Threat From Authoritarian Regimes: In Pakistan, against the backdrop of continued extremist violence against civilian targets, the number and severity of reported cases against religious minorities increased. For example, in May, extremist attacks on two Ahmadi congregations in Lahore killed at least 86
‘I’m not free until the people are free’ – Suu Kyi: As overjoyed crowds celebrated the release of Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday, their leader gave a message that tempered their jubilation with a call to action. For the woman who has made so many personal sacrifices for the sake
Freedom from fear – by Aung Sang Suu Kyi: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, an icon of democracy, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and leader of the fight against military dictatorship in Burma (Myanmar), was released after seven and a half years of house arrest. She has been detained
Geo TV and its team of Goebbels – by Irfan Urfi:
Hardliners call for deaths Ahmadiyya sect -by Jerome Taylor: Islamic extremists have started openly calling for the destruction of a controversial Muslim sect in a major escalation of sectarian conflict within British Islam, an investigation by The Independent has revealed. Members of the Ahmadiyya Community have seen a
Kashmir Bleeds, Does Anyone Heed?- by Hafsa Khawaja: Befittingly termed once as ‘Heaven on Earth’, with millions martyred since the past 6 decades, thousands of half-widows, orphans and missing – Kashmir today is a Palestine-in-the-making of Asia. As the Kashmir intifada continues, anyone keeping a keen eye on
International Day of Democracy: “Let us recognize that democratic governance is a yearning shared and voiced by people the world over.  Democracy is a goal in its own right, and an indispensable means for achieving development for all humankind.” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Message
Free limits – By Nadeem F. Paracha: What on earth is ‘freedom of speech?’ This question has been raised on various TV channels, in the newspapers and on internet forums in Pakistan after some channels were sent spinning off the air, allegedly by ‘hooligans’ on the
Sun from the East- by Ali Irtiza: The Bangladeshi government has ordered mosques and libraries across the country to remove all books written by a controversial Islamic scholar. The chief of the government-funded Islamic Foundation told the BBC that the books by Syed Abul Ala Maududi
PML-N’s views on free media – a cartoon by Sabir Nazar: Source: Daily Times, 11 July 2010
LUBP and Freedom of Expression – by Ahmad Nadeem Gehla: Freedom of expression is a right to express what an individual feels. There is a divine right to speak out. What are requirements for such freedom? 1. A liberal and tolerant society. 2. A state which does not oppress
Hamid Mir and Jang Group’s somersaults on freedom of speech – by Aamir Mughal: Former president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists Mazhar Abbas said that on the whole media’s role in the entire episode left a lot to be desired. “We go by the official version and don’t even use words
There cannot be justice without freedom – by Imtiaz Baloch: There cannot be a human rights violation greater than the enslavement of a people. All the categories of rights and freedoms are lost or snatched away with a single stroke. Such is the plight of Baloch and other stateless
Ban on Ajoka’s Burkavaganza: Unveiling freedoms – by Afiya Shehrbano: Unveiling freedoms I believe Samia R Qazi of the Jamaat-e-Islami was right to campaign for a ban on Ajoka’s Burkavaganza– but for very different reasons. If Samia Qazi had just sat through one showing, she would’ve realised that the
PPP’s commitment and contribution to free press – by Junaid Qaiser: Democracy and free media are co-related; democracy is impossible without a free (unbiased) media, and free media is impossible without democracy. Democracy and free media reinforce each other. Huge credit goes to Pakistan Peoples Party, which is the biggest
House of DawnNews correspondent attacked by ISI sleuths: The Islamabad police has registered a case against unknown persons and are investigating the incident. –File Photo ISLAMABAD: In the wee hours of Tuesday, January 19, unknown persons attacked the house of Dawnnews investigative reporter Azaz Syed. They locked