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Shahbaz wants parliament probe into injustices against media

By News Desk
July 08, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif has written to National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser to form a parliamentary committee to investigate the “injustices” being committed against media institutions in Pakistan.

In a two-page letter addressed to Qaiser posted on PML-N’s official Twitter handle on Tuesday, the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly highlighted the “blatant violation” of the law, Constitution and democracy in Pakistan due to which journalists in the country were being “targeted”.

Shahbaz asked the Speaker to form a parliamentary committee to investigate the injustices towards the media industry, and recommended the committee to listen to the complaints of media representatives and journalist organisations and provide their suggestions on the matter.

Referring to the increasing curbs on freedom of speech and censorship in the country, Shahbaz wrote that this is “an urgent and important matter” and was related to the “unusual restrictions” imposed on the media.

The former Punjab chief minister stated that the latest problem pertained to Channel 24’s ban, which he added had adversely affected the households of hundreds. He stated that under the PTI government’s tenure, the media has been put in a very tough situation.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) suspended the transmission of Channel 24 News HD earlier. “To add pressure on the media, a strategy has been formulated to ban the publication of columnists,” said Shahbaz. He also accused the government of having journalists it did not like sacked from their jobs.

Shahbaz said lawsuits have been filed against media owners who did not stop criticising the government, adding that the biggest example of this was Jang Geo Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

He added that the lawyers’ community, Pakistan Bar Council’s Executive Committee and other foreign journalist organisations have labelled the government’s policy as “vengeful”.

“The issue is not the ban on Channel 24 but the government’s intolerance for media freedom,” Shahbaz told the NA speaker. He added that the government has reached a point of extremism, alleging that it was using its authority to silence every voice that does not believe in the “government’s truth”.

“The Constitution of Pakistan recognises freedom of expression and access to information as a fundamental right,” Shahbaz told Speaker Qaiser. Highlighting the importance of freedom of expression, he stressed that media was the fourth pillar in democracy.

Shahbaz also demanded that Jang Geo Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman be released immediately from his illegal detention. “I hope that you take a decision keeping democracy in mind and the state’s fourth pillar, [and act] above your party affiliation and pressure from the Prime Minister,” the former Punjab chief minister wrote in the letter. “The people’s voice should be heard, not silenced.”