ISLAMABAD, Jan 22 (APP): Caretaker Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Solangi on Monday said that elements involved in the malicious campaign against the superior judiciary would be taken to task but no group or person would be victimised.
He was addressing a press conference flanked by Director General Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Ahmed Shamim Pirzada and Director General Operations Federal Investigation Agency Waqar uddin.
The minister said that judicial decisions were in the public domain and as per the Constitution and the masses could comment on them.
Condemning the malicious campaign against the superior judiciary and judges on social media, he said that character assassination of someone was a serious violation of the law and the Constitution. He underlined the need to discourage the culture of deceit and intolerance from society.
He said a joint investigation team had been formed to probe the anti-judiciary campaign and the relevant institutions including FIA and PTA were investigating the ongoing propaganda. He said that Article 19 of the Constitution defines freedom of expression with certain restrictions. The minister said that the caretaker government was set up under a constitutional process and it was written in the preamble of the Constitution that the country will be run by representatives of the people.
He said that elections will be held across the country on February 8 and there should be no doubt about it.
The minister said that strict measures will be taken against those involved in illegal activities.
Lashing out at those churning out lies and malicious propaganda to mislead the nation for their vested interests, he urged the general public to beware of misleading and fake news.
He advised people to verify every bit of information before sharing it on social media platforms.
Referring to the involvement of internal and external elements in the anti-judiciary campaign, he said that anyone who violated the law would be dealt with according to the law without any discrimination.
He said that the objective of this press conference was to warn such elements against running the malicious campaign.
He said that both FIA and PTA were investigating the matter and hundreds of social media accounts were monitored and action would be taken against the culprits under the law of the land.
Spreading lies was the business of some people as this was part of their ” political economy ” as they received hefty amounts but these false news do not benefit the people of Pakistan.
“As the elections are approaching we have to be wary of lies and misinformation,” Murtaza Solangi said, adding that the people should verify before sharing such false and false news.
To a question, he said the campaign against the judiciary was launched from within the country and abroad and those involved were connected.
Replying to a question he said that action would be taken only against those who were involved in the campaign to malign the judges of the superior judiciary and no group or person would be targeted.
He said the present caretaker regime was non-political and it had no political friends or opponents, so it had no intention to target any political party or group.
He said that Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar had the Ministry of Interior portfolio and all the ministry institutions were fully operational.
Answering a question regarding disruption in the Internet, he said that during the past few days, the Internet service had some problems due to technical glitches and it had nothing to do with politics.
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