Govt distances itself from Mir Shakil’s arrest
PM’s aide says his media house should stop assailing ruling party
PM’s aide says his media house should stop assailing ruling party. PHOTO:FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The government on Friday distanced itself from the arrest of Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakilur Rahman by the country’s top anti-graft watchdog in a land scandal, refuting allegations that the ruling party was getting back at him for his media house’s criticism of its policies.
“It’s unfair and unjust to describe this [Rahman’s arrest] as revenge or to say that this was done at the behest of the government,” Special Assistant to the PM on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said at a news conference in Islamabad.
The owner of the media group was taken into custody at the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) Lahore office a day earlier after he had failed to give satisfactory answers to its 26-point questionnaire about the purchase of a 54-kanal land allegedly acquired illegally from former premier Nawaz Sharif when he was the Punjab chief minister in 1986.
Jang Group CEO Shakilur Rahman sent on 12-day physical remand
The PM’s aide said NAB was an independent institution. “Every person has the right to prove their innocence if they are facing allegations,” she added.
“Whenever allegations are made, both sides are given the opportunity to present evidence in court to back their arguments. The court then reaches a decision on the basis of that evidence.”
She said Prime Minister Imran Khan was striving to strengthen institutions and they were working freely under his governance.
“To repeatedly claim that the government is suppressing press freedom… to connect these two things [press freedom and Rahman’s arrest] goes against the principles of journalism,” she maintained.
Firdous said the government expected NAB to present evidence in the court on the basis of which it had arrested the editor-in-chief of the Jang/Geo Group so that its step could be justified.
Similarly, she added, the government expected Rahman and the anchorpersons and analysts of his media house to submit evidence to the court to prove that he was innocent instead of assailing the government.
“The government did not comment on the matter earlier because it did not want to get involved, but one media house is continuously hurling accusations against the prime minister and government institutions and conducting a trial on its TV channel,” she claimed.
"Do other people arrested by NAB have the right to hold debates about their cases on TV channels and pressure investigation officers?” she asked.
“You [Jang/Geo] are a media house. Why would the government harbour animosity towards you? We have no political rivalry with you. You are an independent media house and we believe that you should remain that way as that is your strength.”
On PM Imran’s earlier remarks against Rahman, Firdous maintained that the prime minister had spoken against the media tycoon in the latter’s capacity as a businessman, not as the editor-in-chief of the Jang/Geo Group.
“The prime minister had made those remarks after he [Rahman] had said the media house was not his only source of income,” she added.
“We can see him [Rahman] in two roles: the owner of a media house and a businessman. The charges against him are not in his capacity as the head of a media house.”
The PM’s aide said Rahman had been arrested in a property case after his failure to satisfy NAB with his answers to its queries.
“I am not a spokesperson for NAB and if I were, I would have come after the arrest to justify it,” she added.
“The only reason for this news conference is that the government is unfairly being painted in a negative light. If the media house had played an independent role, the government wouldn’t have felt the need to clarify its position.”
The government on Friday distanced itself from the arrest of Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakilur Rahman by the country’s top anti-graft watchdog in a land scandal, refuting allegations that the ruling party was getting back at him for his media house’s criticism of its policies.
“It’s unfair and unjust to describe this [Rahman’s arrest] as revenge or to say that this was done at the behest of the government,” Special Assistant to the PM on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said at a news conference in Islamabad.
The owner of the media group was taken into custody at the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) Lahore office a day earlier after he had failed to give satisfactory answers to its 26-point questionnaire about the purchase of a 54-kanal land allegedly acquired illegally from former premier Nawaz Sharif when he was the Punjab chief minister in 1986.
Jang Group CEO Shakilur Rahman sent on 12-day physical remand
The PM’s aide said NAB was an independent institution. “Every person has the right to prove their innocence if they are facing allegations,” she added.
“Whenever allegations are made, both sides are given the opportunity to present evidence in court to back their arguments. The court then reaches a decision on the basis of that evidence.”
She said Prime Minister Imran Khan was striving to strengthen institutions and they were working freely under his governance.
“To repeatedly claim that the government is suppressing press freedom… to connect these two things [press freedom and Rahman’s arrest] goes against the principles of journalism,” she maintained.
Firdous said the government expected NAB to present evidence in the court on the basis of which it had arrested the editor-in-chief of the Jang/Geo Group so that its step could be justified.
Similarly, she added, the government expected Rahman and the anchorpersons and analysts of his media house to submit evidence to the court to prove that he was innocent instead of assailing the government.
“The government did not comment on the matter earlier because it did not want to get involved, but one media house is continuously hurling accusations against the prime minister and government institutions and conducting a trial on its TV channel,” she claimed.
"Do other people arrested by NAB have the right to hold debates about their cases on TV channels and pressure investigation officers?” she asked.
“You [Jang/Geo] are a media house. Why would the government harbour animosity towards you? We have no political rivalry with you. You are an independent media house and we believe that you should remain that way as that is your strength.”
On PM Imran’s earlier remarks against Rahman, Firdous maintained that the prime minister had spoken against the media tycoon in the latter’s capacity as a businessman, not as the editor-in-chief of the Jang/Geo Group.
“The prime minister had made those remarks after he [Rahman] had said the media house was not his only source of income,” she added.
“We can see him [Rahman] in two roles: the owner of a media house and a businessman. The charges against him are not in his capacity as the head of a media house.”
The PM’s aide said Rahman had been arrested in a property case after his failure to satisfy NAB with his answers to its queries.
“I am not a spokesperson for NAB and if I were, I would have come after the arrest to justify it,” she added.
“The only reason for this news conference is that the government is unfairly being painted in a negative light. If the media house had played an independent role, the government wouldn’t have felt the need to clarify its position.”