Assails media for airing news: Kaira tries to ‘deny’ incident
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira on Saturday said that no “mentionable” incident took place in the hall in Birmingham where President Asif Ali Zardari was addressing members of the Pakistani community.
Talking to a private news channel, he strongly contradicted the news, telecast by private news channels, that an individual had hurled shoes towards the president during his address.
To a question, he said if someone tried to create disturbance while sitting in back of the hall, it was not visible and the news should be condemned rather than airing it as “breaking news” or portraying it as “big news”.
The minister also denied that there was any type of unrest inside the hall. “If something happened, it was not visible,” he added. He said that the person involved in the incident would certainly be a planted individual of a party.
To another question, he said outside the hall, there were some persons with placards and they recorded their protest, which was their political and democratic right, adding, they were directed in this regard by their respective political parties in Pakistan and the opposition parties gathered their supporters after a great effort.
Some opposition parties, which are not in parliament, were opposing the president’s visit. Should the government follow their guideline? he asked. A section of the media is also criticising President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit and Kaira questioned if they were the voice of the nation. “President would follow views of the majority of the people of Pakistan who are being represented by the PPP and its coalition partners.”
He said the incident like this should not be highlighted, as it was not a commendable job. Incidents like this could happen or be managed for any political party’s leadership, he added.
Replying to a question, Qamar Zaman Kaira said due to security issues, cameras of news channels were not allowed inside the hall but representatives of all channels were there.
President Asif Ali Zardari’s address was for about 45 minutes and it went very well, which was participated enthusiastically by the Pakistani community. The president’s visit was portrayed by newspapers in Britain as a very successful visit, he added.
Source: The News
Date:8/8/2010
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