Dawn sacks Lahore resident editor as layoffs continue

Amid staffers’ protests against its policy of retrenchment and pay cuts, Dawn on Thursday sacked Asha’ar Rehman, the newspaper’s Lahore resident editor.

His sacking was the first from the editorial department in Lahore, after the managers laid off 24 employees in November, including cleaners and security guards, reported JournalismPakistan.com.

It said the staff felt uneasy following the editor’s termination and sensed more layoffs in the days ahead.

Rehman had joined Dawn in February 2007 from The News on Sunday, where he worked as an editor. He was on the launch team of The News. Earlier on in his career, he had stints with the Kuwait Times and the Frontier Post.

Dawn also laid off several employees at other centers earlier, prompting protests by the workers’ union and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). The paper has also slapped pay cuts.

The Dawn union held the protest in Karachi on Tuesday. The journalists warned the newspaper management against any further layoffs and cuts in salaries and benefits. They also asked the government to protect journalists’ economic rights.

Earlier, the employees held a similar protest outside the Dawn Islamabad office.