HYDERABAD, Sept 6: Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmad has said the government will welcome constructive criticism by the press with a view to identifying mistakes of the rulers.

He was speaking as chief guest at the launching ceremony of three newspapers of the Liberty Paper Limited from Hyderabad on Sunday evening. The minister, however, said journalists had the responsibility not to write according to their whims.

He observed that truth must always be spoken at the right time, adding that the government believed in freedom of the press. He said it was through media that grievances of people reached the government.

Shaikh Rashid said the government was in the process of issuing 22 TV channel licences. Speaking on the occasion, the leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, said the country needed an independent press to create awareness among the masses and political activists.

He observed that having been disappointed with courts, people were now turning towards press clubs. Alliance for Restoration of Democracy provincial president Zain Ansari called upon the media to play its role in protecting Pakistan.

He criticized the rulers for continuing with their plan to construct the Kalabagh dam, a project rejected by three provincial assemblies. Others who spoke on the occasion included Sindh Revenue Minister Imtiaz Ahmad Shaikh, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal MNA Sahibzada Abdul Khair Mohammad Zubair, Sindh Pakistan Muslim League-N president Imdad Chandio, Sindh Chamber of Agriculture president Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah, and Sindh National Party chairman Amir Bhambhro. Zia Shahid welcomed the guests.

PETARO COLLEGE: Former Sindh Governor Lt-Gen Moinuddin Haider has called upon people to shun their petty differences and unite on one platform to serve the cause of the country. He was speaking at a Defence Day function, organized by the Petaro Cadet College on Monday.