ISLAMABAD: Press and Broadcasting Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Thursday called PTI chairman Imran Khan’s term as prime minister a dark chapter for Pakistani media and that media organisations and journalists should review the PTI regime’s anti-media record before attending
his media seminar.
She said in a statement that the enemy of the media (Imran Khan) is what she called the media “economic killer” and should be ashamed of holding a media seminar.
Imran Khan sat in the prime minister’s chair, indulging in the hostility of the media.
Imran Khan is a liar, corrupt, foreign agent, media enemy and hypocrite, she said, and the media must decide whether to participate in a seminar for those who use the NAO as a tool to suppress media freedom.
“The media must decide whether to participate in the media seminar of the founder of the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority, which was set up by the previous government to control the media.
She urged Imran to stop the farce at the media seminar as the voice of the media was silenced during his four-year rule, while Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman was arrested by the NAB to weaken the state media.
“The PFUJ, CPNE and PBA will have to decide whether to participate in the ‘media weakening seminar’, the media must decide whether to participate in the media seminar that stifles journalists, fires journalists during their tenure, and they impose unprecedented restrictions on the media.
The minister said the media would have to decide whether to participate in workshops of people who have been named “media predators” by international organisations.
The media will have to decide whether to believe in their freedom and the specter of job search seminars.
Maryam Aurangzeb said the CPNE’s 2020 report, International Media Watch and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2021 report proved Imran Khan’s media hostility.
She noted that International Media Watch had called Imran Khan a fascist, and that during the four years of Imran Khan’s rule, journalists had their ribs broken, they were kidnapped, media freedoms were smashed, and parliaments were locked.
Imran Khan, who controls the media through NAB, has also put media workers out of work, she said.
She insisted that the media must decide whether to attend the seminar of the person who snatched the pen from the reporter, ordering the anchor to be removed from the screen.
