KARACHI: Media’s role termed vital to nation building: National conference
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, April 8: Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad has said that if every forum of society plays its due role for nation-building, democracy will certainly be strengthened in the country.
Dr Ebad was speaking as chief guest at the “National Media Conference on Strengthening Democracy,” held at a local hotel on Tuesday. The conference was organised by the Inter Press Communication (IPC) in collaboration with the South Asia Partnership Pakistan (SAPP).
The governor said that changing the perception of the people was a most difficult task and the media played a pivotal role in the process.
He said that freedom of the press and freedom of expression must not be used to misinterpret and distort facts.
“If the people are passed on disinformation, they will never have factual perception. Only factual reporting and positive criticism lead people to correct decisions,” said the governor.
I.A Rehman, director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, in his speech, said that democracy could be strengthened only if the country was “returned to the people”.
He said: “Democracy is not a rigid concept but a process. It is a way of life to live together. But in Pakistan we never attempted to establish democracy and only experimented with its primitive form where a one-vote-majority prime minister considered the entire country his property and treated the opposition as his worst enemy. There is a need to come out of “majoritariansim” and practice popular democracy in which any one living in the country has the right to take part in democracy.”
Mr Rehman pointed out that soon after the October elections, the government had promulgated four ordinances aimed at curtailing the freedom of the media.
Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid spoke of the plight of those in prisons. He told the conference that in the women’s prison in Karachi there were 250 women, of them only 39 were convicted and the remaining had been under trial for many years. Sixteen were granted bail, but they were not in a position to furnish security to leave the prison. He maintained that the condition of the judiciary could change with only one tenth of the amount that was being spent on the National Accountability Bureau.
Mr Jabbar Khattak expressed the view that only a viable and sustainable press could play a role in the promotion of civil society in the country. He emphasised the need to promote local press in every township.
Senator Sanaullah Baloch said democracy was not possible in a country where there was no respect for the constitution and efforts had been made to legitimise illegitimacy.
MQM leader Kanwar Khalid Yunus, stressed the need for strengthening the committee system in the Parliament to watch over the ministries.
Dr Hameeda Khuhro said that at the time of its creation the country inherited a weak political system but strong bureaucracy and army, and the politicians, who formed a link between the people and the government, were maligned.
Mr Javed Jabbar said the right of expression and freedom of the press had now been recognised in the country.
Dr Haroon Ahmad said that no political party came into power in the country without support from certain powerful quarters, and political parties which agendas for change were marginalised.
SAP’s executive director Muhammad Tehseen, IPC president Sheen Farrukh, and Shagufta Alizai, Yusuf Khan, Imran Sherwani, Sher Muhammad Khawar and Zakir also spoke on the occasion.
