Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabani has urged the civilian and military leadership of the country to accept their past mistakes and adopt corrective measures to help bridge the misunderstanding between state institutions.
Addressing the awards ceremony held for the participants of the National Media Workshop at the National Defence University (NDU) the other day Rabani said that the military dictators of past did not understand the fact that the constitution and the parliament were supreme institutions of the state of Pakistan while the politicians failed to end corruption and bad governance.
“The politicians must stop corrupt practices while the military needs to understand that the Parliament represents the people of Pakistan, and the constitution is supreme, only this could help in developing understanding and harmony between the state institutions,” he said.
He further added that the workshops like “National Media Workshop” held at the National Defence University should be a regular occurrence, because such workshops consistently promote social interaction and dialogue among various segments of the society. He added that to understand the role of the media organising such workshops is necessary since the media itself is continually evolving and has grown into a multifaceted and complex phenomenon.
He said that to ensure “National Security” we must exercise smart power, which does not mean only using military power, it includes military, diplomatic cultural, educational and political forms of power also. He said that handling information is also a power. Information can be a very powerful thing for people and can take countries to new heights.
He said that today, fortunately, the Pakistani media has acquired its power of free speech and he hoped that it would acquire a culture of responsibility and accountability very soon for the development of the Pakistani society.
Maj Gen Noel I. Khokhar DG ISSRA said that in this age of globalisation the media has a pivotal role in shaping the future of nations. The media has a role in all spheres of national life like cultural, social, political, economical and spiritual. He said that in the context of national security media has also a significant role in paving the way for developing harmony and national consensus on key challenges faces by the Pakistan. He said that media is the mirror of the society.
The two-week long media persons, academia, intelligentsia, civil servants and politicians attended “National Media Workshop”, organised by ISSRA, from all four provinces including AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan. It helped people develop new insights into how the media is a useful tool and the important role that it has to play in terms of society.