ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has stated that his party is the pioneer of introducing freedom of press in Pakistan and reiterated commitment to the freedom of press and freedom of expression without any compromise on its principles. “Dictators always gagged the press. They even resorted to attacks on journalists and media houses but PPP always stood by the journalists’ community and fought together with them the dictatorial regimes and their draconian anti-press laws,” he said in his statement on the World Press Freedom Day being observed across the globe. He said that the PPP leaders, workers and journalists waged a shoulder-to-shoulder struggle for democracy and freedom of press, ending up in prisons and police lock-ups. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed concern over the lack of security to the media persons, especially in the terrorist-hit regions and asked the federal and provincial governments to ensure foolproof security to the working journalists and also for welfare of their community. The PPP chairman said that his party has proved to be the most tolerant political party in Pakistan, which always respected the honest and constructive criticism and never resorted to violence even when its top leadership was subjected to ruthless media trials and defamations. “We are harbingers of democratic values and we shall stick to it to promote freedom of press,” he added.
