Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira on Tuesday said that efforts would be made to provide protection to the journalist community.
Talking to senior editors‚ columnists and journalists‚ he said that the incident of recovery of explosive material from the vehicle of senior anchorperson Hamid Mir was condemnable.
The information minister said Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had always worked for stability of the country and it would continue to pursue this course in the future as well.
He urged the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) to play a positive role in national politics.
Commenting on President Asif Ali Zardari, he said that as co-chairman of PPP, President Zardari could have chosen to take prime minister’s office. Instead, he said, President Zardari chose the presidency in order to end the conspiracy theories surrounding the president’s office.
He reminded the journalists present at the occasion that President Zardari had entered politics through a democratic way.
Talking about Asghar Khan Case‚ he said the case has not only made the 1992 elections doubtful but had also put a question mark on all elections‚ which have taken place in the country.
He further added that government had learned a lot and was ready for more efforts in the next general elections.
Kaira said that all the political parties including PPP wanted free, fair and transparent elections and for this, all out efforts would be made to achieve the objectives.
Pakistan Today Editor, Arif Nizami, who was also present at the occasion said that instead of concentrating on the future, the government was only focusing on the past, a trend which was the hallmark of the Muslim League and had now been adopted by the PPP.
“I watched Gen (r) Aslam Baig misbehaving with a TV anchor on a programme, which shows the journalists are also facing the heat in the entire episode,” he said adding that no inquiry had been initiated against the army personnel or the politicians involved in the Asghar Khan Case. “The army generals, even retired ones, have never been tried in this country,” he added.
