Politics, journalism affected by terrorism: Yousafz
Peshawar – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Labour and Culture Shaukat Yousafzai on Saturday said that terrorism had affected both journalism and politics.
Addressing the closing ceremony of a workshop on local government system for women journalists here, he said the media must criticize the government but not be a party. He said it was not appropriate to target national security agencies under the guise of freedom of expression. The provincial government, he said, wanted to hold local body elections, which had been delayed by amendments to the law and delimitations.
Shaukat Yousafzai said that menace of corruption had destroyed our national values. Paying tributes to the soldiers, he said eradication of terrorism was made possible after sacrifices by Pakistan Army and security agencies.
“We will not allow targeting our national security agencies under the guise of freedom of expression,” the minister said. Shaukat Yousafzai urged journalists to have a deeper understanding of security and other dynamics in the region. He was of the view that Constitution of Pakistan guaranteed freedom of the press and rights of journalists and the environment was very conducive for journalism in the country due to which a large number of women were adopting journalism as career in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Speaking on the role of local governments in Pakistan, he said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was a staunch supporter of devolution of power to local level. Yousafzai considered the local bodies as ‘nurseries’ of politics. He was of the view that local government elections were delayed due to amendments in the Local Government Act and delimitations as per the new law.
Meanwhile, reacting to Bilawal Zardari’s statement, he said the politics of Pakistan Peoples’ Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leadership was based on corruption and money-laundering by looting the national exchequer during their regimes. He said both political parties had lost their popularity and credibility among the people.
He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf gave a package of 1100 billion to Karachi and Sindh would see a new era of change and development
Source: The Nation
