Minister regrets not doing away with media censorship completely

LAHORE: Information and Broadcasting Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb has said she regrets that her ministry could not do as much as it wished to eliminate the culture of censorship on the media.

Speaking at an Iftar dinner, hosted by her ministry for the Lahore media, she said that in her short period as the minister she tried her best that the media could be facilitated to the maximum to bring clarity regarding the government affairs.

She said that she is aware of the concerns and complaints of the media fraternity regarding censorship and sabotage of certain media outlets. She said the government tried its best to do whatever it could to curtail such activities. But, still there was a lot of room for improvement in that regard, she added. The minister pledged that if the PML-N would come to power against after 2018 elections, it would give special attention to the issue.

She said the second most important concern of the media fraternity was formation of Wage Board Award, for which the PML-N government and the Ministry of Information did all whatever they could do.

The minister dispelled an impression that there was any division in the PML-N ranks. She said the PML-N was a democratic party which encouraged difference of opinion, but it was misinterpreted. She said some television channels were airing a news item about Mian Nawaz Sharif with her name, which was totally baseless.

About the caretaker government, she said that discussion, consultation and negotiation in this regard were under way and it was hoped that a consensus candidate would be agreed upon between the ruling and the opposition parties.