ISLAMABAD, March 13: Federal Minister for Informa-tion and Media Development Nisar Memon has asked the Press to give priority to national interests while reporting things in newspapers and try to project the country’s image as a progressive, liberal and moderate Islamic state.

The minister was talking to a delegation of Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE) headed by its President Mujib-ur-Rehman Shami, which called on him in his office on Wednesday.

Mr Memon said that the government considered freedom of press and media as one of the fundamental human rights and it was determined to protect and promote this freedom in letter and in spirit.

The government would always welcome constructive and healthy criticism in order to bring about improvement in its policies, the minister noted. “The level of freedom being enjoyed by Press in the country is unprecedented in its history,” he observed.

The minister informed the meeting that the issue of the ban on two Karachi dailies had already been taken up with the Sindh government and the matter had been resolved amicably.

Mr Memon said that the government was fully aware of the anxiety present in some sections of the press due to absence of Press laws in the country.

He said that since enactment of laws took some time as these had to go through a due process and to be discussed in the cabinet, the same would be enforced before the end of April this year when the process was completed. He also assured the delegation that laws facilitating access to information would also be taken up soon.

The CPNE also demanded early promulgation of press laws the draft of which had been finalized in consultations with the CPNE and APNS.

The issue of ensuring safety to newspapers offices and establishments also came up for discussion.

The CPNE president pointed out that some ethnic and sectarian groups were putting pressure on newspapers in Karachi for coverage of their news and views according to their wishes.

The minister said that the government was cognizant of the situation and it would take all possible measures to ensure protection and safety of newspapers establishments against any threat.

Responding to another question, he said that the spokesmen appointed by the government in various ministries would be made available to respond to media enquiries with a view to avoiding misreporting.

On a demand to investigate the causes of fire in the Karachi office of Balochistan Times, the minister asked the CPNE to submit a comprehensive report in this regard.