Shahbaz Sharif draws NA speaker’s attention towards media problems

ISLAMABAD: Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif on Tuesday sent a letter to NA Speaker Asad Qaisar, drawing his attentions towards brutal actions against the media including closure of a private television channel and continuous detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

“I want to draw your attention towards breach of law, constitution and democracy which involves extraordinary restrictions on the media and jobs insecurity of media workers due to these actions,” Shahbaz said in the letter.

The opposition leader pointed out that the government started registration of cases and victimization of owners of media houses, the fresh example of which is arrest of Jang/Geo Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. “The lawyers community, Executive Committee of Pakistan Bar Council and international media organizations have also termed the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman as an example of victimization of media and journalists,” he said.

Shahbaz said while representing all opposition parties, he demands immediate release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and withdrawal orders for suspension of Channel 24. The opposition leader hoped that the speaker while living above from party affiliation and pressure of the prime minister would hear voice of people while keeping in view importance of media as fourth pillar of state, democracy and constitution. He observed that like other government departments, the media has also been facing disastrous conditions since the PTI government took over.

“First the government used the dictatorial tactic of banning advertisements and then followed the policy of suppressing the voice of anchors of different programmes and columnists not liked by the government,” he said.