ISLAMABAD, Aug 5: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Friday that the decision to expel foreign students of madressahs had been taken in view of involvement of some of them in activities which were against national interests. Speaking to a delegation of newspaper editors from Sindh who met him at Prime Minister’s House, he did not agree with the notion that the decision to cancel visas of foreign seminarists had been taken in haste.

He appreciated the role of about 11,000 seminaries in providing religious education and said the government wanted to bring them to the mainstream education. Mr Aziz said visa restrictions had been imposed only on those foreign students who were promoting thoughts which were harmful for the country’s peaceful atmosphere.

He said the press in Pakistan was freer than ever in the past and asked the media to realise its responsibility towards responsible journalism instead of indulging in criticism for the sake of criticism.

He said the number of newspapers and private television channels had increased manifold over the past few years and the PTV was launching four new regional-language channels soon.

Referring to the ongoing local body election process, the prime minister said fair, free and transparent elections would be ensured by strictly adhering to the code of conduct issued by the election commission.

About construction of dams, he said there was a dire need of more reservoirs to meet the future needs but that would be done by taking all the four provinces into confidence. He said if sufficient water storage facilities would be available, waste of water would be stopped and the stored water would help improve agriculture sector.

Answering a question, Mr Aziz said that provinces enjoyed autonomy as enshrined in the Constitution. He said the federal government had been providing assistance and cooperation to all the provinces, including Sindh. He said the government had substantially enhanced gas royalty for Sindh and provided it additional funds for undertaking development activities.