Lahore: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday claimed that for the past two years the government had forced the media to remain silent and dissenting journalists had to face repression. Khan, an accused in several cases, has been kept in Rawalpindi’s high-security Adiala jail since his arrest 10 months ago. He has also been convicted in some cases.
‘Journalists were targeted’
“The media in Pakistan has always been under state control, while journalists have been targeted for their critical views. Over the past two years, the media in Pakistan has been forced to remain silent and dissent has faced repression,” Imran Khan (71) said on the social media platform ‘X’.
‘Independent media is one of the important pillars’
Imran, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, said independent media is one of the most important pillars of the state and it acts as a watchdog and forces the government to do its job properly. He said, “My government tried to change this environment by bringing a law for journalists and media safety, but it was rejected after a no-confidence motion was brought against them.”
Restrictions on freedom of the press
Imran’s statement comes at a time when the Punjab government led by Khan’s rival and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz has recently introduced the ‘Punjab Defamation Act 2024’. This is a controversial law related to defamation and restricts freedom of the press in the name of fake news.
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