Bilawal advises PTI govt against ‘trolling’ dissenting voices amid corona crisis

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has strongly condemned abusive Twitter trends targeting prominent journalists who voice a dissenting opinion.

These trends were nothing but another attempt at silencing critics and giving a message to the rest of the media to stay silent or face the consequences, he said in a statement.

“If the federal government and PTI social media teams focus as hard on corona awareness as they do on trolling dissenting voices, it would be a far better use of time and resources in these difficult times,” the PPP chairman was quoted as saying.

Bilawal urged in the current extraordinary times, the country needed a unifying response to the unprecedented challenge posed by coronavirus pandemic. “We cannot afford and must avoid divisive politics and settling of political scores at this critical juncture,” he stressed.

Bilawal further said the media played an important part in a democratic dispensation and around the world media had held governments accountable for their response to one of the worst crises in recent human history. “For those who think media can be bullied into submission must also remember that journalists in Pakistan have a long history of resistance to injustice and tyranny,” he stated.