Don't hire Azhar Abbas, Kamran Khan: PFUJ warns media houses

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published 10 years ago

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) Saturday warned all media houses through a resolution not to hire senior journalists Azhar Abbas (pictured right) and Kamran Khan (left) who quit BOL News just as the Axact fake diplomas scandal surfaced.

The New York Times had published a story alleging that Axact, the parent company of BOL, was involved in selling fake diplomas to students across the globe. The PFUJ passed the resolution in an emergency meeting of their Executive Council convened Saturday to review the challenges facing the media industry.

“The resolution says that the decision of so-called senior journalists Kamran Khan and Azhar Abbas to quit BOL TV in a difficult time was extremely condemnable. It demanded no media house hire such elements who play with the jobs of working journalists and media workers,” The Express Tribune reported Sunday.

The meeting also condemned behavior of anchorpersons like Asma Shirazi, Iftikhar Ahmed, Nusrat Javeed and Wajahat S Khan for ditching their fellow journalists at BOL.

The PFUJ also demanded that all journalist unions revoke membership of such journalists. It also resolved to lodge a strong protest against any media house that hires Kamran Khan or Azhar Abbas.

The resolution urges all media owners, Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors, All Pakistan Newspapers Society and Pakistan Broadcasters Association to ensure working journalists are given their rights, including the 7th Wage Award, in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling.

It urged the government to immediately withdraw transmission blockage orders of BOL besides unfreezing the channel's bank accounts.

The PFUJ announced to hold protests against the government across the country from Monday if  transmission of BOL News was not restored.

Photo courtesy: thenews.com.pk