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Thursday March 28, 2024

‘Pervaiz removed for not stopping publication of news’

By our correspondents
October 31, 2016

 Nisar says info minister should have first talked to newspaper’s management and later to govt on refusal; contents of news twisted for vested interests

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Sunday said Information Minister Senator Pervaiz Rasheed was removed from his office for not playing his due role in stopping the publication of the news related to national security in daily Dawn.

Addressing a press conference here at the Punjab House, the minister said the information minister should have brought all this mess into the notice of the respective newspaper’s high-ups.

“When I informed Pervaiz Rasheed about his removal as the federal information minister, he wanted to express his stance before the media but on my request he agreed to present his stance before the committee,” said Nisar.He said the decision to remove the information minister was taken after initial findings into the matter, with the army on board. A complete inquiry is still pending, he added.

The minister said a high-level committee will investigate the DawnLeaks and no one should attempt to hide behind the Right to Information Act and the right to protect the source.“This is a matter of national interest. I have been assured by the representatives of Dawn that Almedia will be made available for questioning,” he added.

He said there was no misunderstanding between the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and DG ISI Lt-Gen Rizwan over the non-state actors.“This news is totally baseless and fabricated aimed at vested interests, as there has never been any differences and misunderstanding between the civilian and military leadership during the last three-and-a-half years of the PML-N government.”

Nisar said the government’s position on the publication of the controversial news story was very clear and the matter will be taken to its logical conclusion.He said the civil and military leadership had consensus on exposing those responsible for the incident to the nation.

“No one bothers about the reality and irrespective of the definition of right and wrong, everything is being presented on the TV screen as tickers,” he said.The minister said the common people in Pakistan were unaware of the reality adding that he was willing to disclose the reality behind the controversial news item published in Dawn.

Talking about his meeting with the army chief General Raheel Sharif, the minister said it was held in a pleasant atmosphere but some sections of the society had made it a habit to dramatise each and everything.

The minister said the PanamaLeaks and DawnLeaks were very harmful for the country adding that the contents of the news published in Dawn were twisted for vested interests.