Ene­rgy Minister Khurram Dastgir, while speaking to the foreign press, claimed that no journalists had been harmed since the current government took over.

“I am delighted to note that during this government’s term, which began in April 2022, no journalist has been shot at in Islamabad like they did a while ago, no one has been picked up, no one has been beaten in their houses,” stated Dastgir.

The minister made the claim despite anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan’s whereabouts being unknown almost two weeks after his arrest.

Dastagir also justified the government’s mass arrests in the wake of May 9 riots, saying that the way to deal with a large scale insurrection was to cast a large net and the innocent people will then eventually be let go.

“While it is difficult to identify the perpetrators from the onlookers, we expect that this process of filtering the criminals from the onlookers will be swiftly made and they will be let go,” stated the minister.