Media must portray positive image of country: Musharraf
ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf said on Thursday that while the media represented a powerful tool of accountability, it had to remember that it played an important role in portraying the positive image of the country.
Addressing a joint gathering of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and Pakistan Navy (PN) officers at Air Headquarters, he said that media freedom was essential. But, he stressed, the media also had to act responsibly and refrain from creating despondency among the masses.
The president went on to say that the media was tasked only with highlighting those issues of national importance. It should avoid, therefore, focusing on negative issues.
On the March 9 suspension of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Gen Musharraf reiterated that the reference represented a purely legal issue and that he had nothing to do with it personally.
He said that since the reference had been forwarded to him by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, he had been dutibound to refer it to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) in accordance with the due process of law. Stressing the matter was extremely sensitive in nature, the president said that the Supreme Court remained the only body to have jurisdiction over it. The decision of the court, he added, would be binding on everyone.
On the Lal Masjid issue, Gen Musharraf said that the government wanted to resolve the matter through dialogue. However, he said that if the standoff could not be defused through dialogue, force would be used as a last resort. He went on to say that the mosque administration was exploiting the presence of 2,500 female Jamia Hafsah students to challenge the writ of the government.
Source: Daily Times
Date:6/15/2007
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