March, 14 2005	Monday	03 Safar 1426

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PESHAWAR, March 13: Federal Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said that quality education and media can bring about a positive change in society. Therefore, it has become imperative for the community to work for their promotion.

Speaking at the launching ceremony of Radio Buraq (FM-104) here on Sunday, the minister said the present era was one of information which had reduced distances and brought diverse people closer than ever before.

“There is an opportunity for investors to come forward and invest in this sector which is more lucrative than any other business,” he added.

Rejecting what he called the insecurity phobia of successive governments, he said decision-makers in the past were opposed to allowing mobile phone facility to the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, “but now people have satellite phones which can’t be scanned”.

He said they were also opposed to setting up a radio station in Sialkot “but now people of Jammu, across the border, can listen to Pakistani broadcast”, he added.

The rapid changes in the communication technologies have rendered many a security doctrine invalid and redundant, he said.

Without naming the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, he lashed out at what he called the religious brigade for fanning fears and depriving depression-hit people of music and other means of entertainment.

He jokingly remarked that most of them were fond of movies as every morning MNA Abdul Akbar Chitrali rang him up and complained about the screening of an obscene programme on a new channel.

He urged the management of the Radio Buraq to obtain a licence for TV channel and compete with others in the electronic field. The government would encourage people wanting to establish radio and TV channels for the promotion of culture and education, he said.

The executive director of the Inter-Active Group of Companies, the owners of Radio Buraq, told the audience that the radio had set up its station first in Sialkot and now in Peshawar. The latter had started its 24-hour transmission from Sunday.

He said the management

had obtained a licence to set

up another radio station in Mardan.