DINGA - Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) will seek people's votes on the basis of its manifesto and public service agenda executed since coming into power.
Speaking after administering oath to the newly elected office-bearers of Media Council here the other day, Kaira said that the PPP-led government had launched several development projects in the country which were the right of people.
He said that journalists were playing a vital role in creating awareness in the society. Freedom of media is part of the PPP manifesto and that is why there is no restriction on media in the country today, he added.
He said that in other countries media organisations were closed down for publishing baseless reports, but here in Pakistan the situation was other way round.
He said that instead of enacting laws, the government provided media organisations an opportunity of self-accountability and the formulation of ethics code for media persons was being discussed today. He urged the media persons to play their due role during the election process as their responsibilities increased manifold.
He said that the PPP had ended the politics of hatred and introduced that of reconciliation, which was evident from the fact that there was no political prisoner in the country today.
He said that elected people deserved due respect. Politicians could be political rivals but they are not enemies of one another," Kaira stressed.
The federal minister said that there was a dire need for promoting tolerance in the society.
Rivals' end 19-year-old enmity: Two rival groups - Javaid Butt group and Baba Ali group, have announced ending their 19-year-old enmity. Leaders of both the rival groups hugged each other following "unconditional" reconciliation and announced giving up their old enmity during a special ceremony held at village Mundeyki Goraya of Daska tehsil here.
The enmity had begun in 1994 when Baba Ali Group's Pervaiz Ali Malhi and his accomplices killed rival group's chief Javaid alias Jeda Butt over dispute of thoroughfare in the village. More than 30 people from both groups had lost lives in 19-year-old enmity. Daska based PML-N leader and former MNA Sahibzada Syed Iftikharul Hassan Shah, former UC Nazim Qazi Shabir Ahmed and local notables including Ch Rafiq Virk, Rana Kashif, Waris Ali Gujjar and Baba Ghulam Rasul played pivotal role in the reconciliation between the rival groups.