PPP would never favour shutting down any TV channel: Sharjeel
KARACHI: Sindh Information and Local Government Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has said that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was not in favour of shutting down transmission of any particular private television channel because his party believed in freedom of press.
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, he said private media has to embark upon the course of self-accountability while media outlets are also required to do their work in the righteous manner.
He said that Geo News had a very antagonistic stance towards the past government of the PPP and unduly subjected that government to media trial.
He said that the Geo News despite ruling status of PPP in the past ranked his party as fourth position among popular and major political parties of the province.
Memon said that no media group or television channel should have the right to rank political parties on basis
of their perceived popularity instead the media should
objectively report on issues concerning the public interests.
Giving reaction on behalf of provincial government on the issue of exclusion of 11 major development schemes of Sindh from upcoming federal government’s budget for financial year 2014-15, the minister said the federal government should shun its ‘dictatorial and discriminatory’ policies and steps against Sindh as the provincial government would never accept injustices to its people.
Memon said that the federal government had been subjecting Sindh to step-motherly treatment and the way people of the province and its government were being treated, showed well the dictatorial mindset and tendencies of the incumbent federal government.
He said it seemed that the PML-N government in the Centre had started penalising people of Sindh as the latter had rejected it in the last general elections.
He said the Pakistan People’s Party had always promoted politics of reconciliation in the country for the sake of strengthening of democracy.
Memon said the federal government had been constantly ignoring needs of Sindh and had not been providing due share of the province in accordance with the award of National Finance Commission.
He said that the Sindh government had already slashed its allocations for development funds for the cause of restoration of law and order situation in Karachi.
He said that the prime minister should rise to the occasion and instead of considering himself ruler of any particular province or of a city, he should consider and act in a manner that he was prime minister of the entire country.
To a question, the minister said that in case former military ruler Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf would be allowed to leave the country then the responsibility of such an act would rest fully with the judiciary and the federal government.
To another question, he said the PPP would never become part of any emerging grand opposition alliance in the country as the PPP itself was a formidable political force which could fight well against all the conspiracies being hatched against its existence.
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