The HRCP said in a statement a senior journalists’ forum is hosted at the NPC library every week chaired by veteran journalist Muhammad Ziauddin who is known for his impeccable professional ethics and integrity.

The forum invites national and international subject experts and politicians of all shades — including those belonging to the ruling coalition to discuss and debate current issues on Pakistan’s economy, society and polity. For journalists, columnists and media personnel, holding such debates is part of their duty; as citizens, it is their right.

On November 23, Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Manzoor Pashteen was invited to the forum. However, the NPC administration stopped both PTM members and journalists from entering the premises, and insulted veteran journalists, including M Ziauddin, Shahid ur Rehman, Mazhar Arif and Jamil Ahmed, among others.

HRCP sees this as a gross violation of the freedom of expression and as an act of cowardice on the part of the NPC administration, adding the closed forum, ironically, gained more publicity around the world when it was held at a nearby children’s park.

The heavy presence of police and plainclothesmen did not deter the journalists from holding their forum, and the commission stands in solidarity with them, the HRCP added.