PUJ protest camp recalls the 2007 emergency, demands an end to KP governor’s rule and threatens a march on Parliament; independent monitors record far fewer PECA cases than the union’s 500 figure.
LAHORE: Journalists in Lahore observed a black day at the Lahore Press Club on the call of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), raising black flags and setting up a protest camp against the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), layoffs and unpaid salaries in media houses.
The protest, organised by the Punjab Union of Journalists (PUJ), also marked the anniversary of the November 3, 2007 emergency imposed by Gen Pervez Musharraf, during which television channels were taken off air and journalists were arrested. Protesters chanted slogans against that emergency and in favour of press freedom.
PFUJ secretary general and Lahore Press Club president Arshad Ansari said Pakistan’s media and journalists were working in their most difficult period. The government had brought in “black laws” such as PECA, under which more than 500 journalists had been booked, he said, while media owners were failing to pay salaries and dues on time and continued forced dismissals and layoffs.
Ansari warned that if the government did not resolve journalists’ problems, they would march from Balochistan, Karachi, Multan and Lahore to Islamabad and besiege Parliament House.
PUJ president Naeem Hanif and general secretary Qamaruz Zaman Bhatti asked the government to audit the billions of rupees in official advertising given to media organisations and to stop advertising payments to outlets that withhold salaries or lay off staff.
The union leaders also called the imposition of emergency anywhere in the country undemocratic and demanded that the emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa be lifted immediately. The province has been governed by an advisory council under the governor since last month.
The PFUJ figure of more than 500 PECA cases against journalists is far higher than independent counts, which use narrower definitions. Media watchdog Freedom Network documented 58 legal cases, mostly under PECA, among 129 violations against journalists between April 2025 and March 2026. Its impunity report found 36 legal proceedings against 30 journalists by October 2025, most of them in Punjab.
Regional unions report higher local figures. Dawn reported that journalists in North Punjab recorded 31 PECA FIRs in 2025 and those in Central Punjab at least 32. The gap suggests many cases go unreported nationally or include media workers and social media commentators outside the watchdogs’ definitions. The union did not publish a list.
The federal government says the 2025 PECA amendments target fake news and online abuse rather than journalism, and the state has rejected allegations of intimidation. The Punjab government has also ordered a fact-based drive against disinformation. Petitions challenging the amendments have been filed in the Lahore High Court.
The salary complaints reflect a wider crisis. Freedom Network’s 2026 report pointed to delayed salaries, job insecurity and reliance on government advertising as economic pressures on journalists, and several outlets have announced job cuts this year.
Senior journalists, office-bearers of the Association of Photo Journalists Lahore and the Punjab Assembly Press Gallery, and members of the PFUJ federal executive council attended the protest.
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