KARACHI, Aug 21: Sindh Adviser for Information Salahuddin Haider has expressed ‘deepest’ regret over the unfortunate incident of maltreatment of journalists at the Governor’s House in Karachi on Sunday.

In a statement, he described the incident as a ‘lower-level mistake’ for which an inquiry had been ordered.

A spokesman for the Governor’s House also expressed regret over the incident and said it was ‘totally unintentional’.

The adviser emphasized that the government, at every level, held representatives of the print and electronic media in great esteem. There could be no question of showing disrespect to them, much less ill-treating them, he said.

A late-night statement issued by the Information Department of the government of Sindh said that a meeting was held on Sunday night between Mr Salahuddin Hyder and senior officials of the government of Sindh and Governor’s House and representatives of the CPNE, including Dr. Jabbar Khattak, and APNS secretary Qazi Asad Abid, along with telephonic contacts with Mazher Abbas, secretary of the PFUJ. The meeting heard in details the background of the regrettable incident at the Governor’s House relating to the press briefing by the prime minister.

The statement said the meeting felt that the matter should be discussed by officials of the Information Department and representatives of the CPNE, APNS and the PFUJ to resolve the issue, keeping with the desire expressed by Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan and the regrets conveyed to the representatives of the media at the meeting.

The representatives of the CPNE, APNS and PFUJ endorsed the stand that all matters be resolved through negotiations in an atmosphere of goodwill to address the root-cause of the grievances.