LAHORE: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhary Fawad Hussain said on Monday that talks will be held with those who respect the Constitution and the law of Pakistan, otherwise, we have battled before and will do again.
Responding to a query about the TTP announcement of ending a month-long ceasefire, Fawad told a gathering of media men at a book launch here at the Lahore Press Club that the [Afghan] Taliban government had once again pressed the TTP to abide by the [ceasefire] agreement.
“And I think their advice is sane,” he added.
He said: “It was unfortunate that they did not move towards police and judicial reforms, although the law ministry had done a lot of work.” He said: “It is vital to have reforms in our police, prosecution system, judiciary and prisons to overhaul our criminal justice system.”
He cited reasons of deterioration in the criminal justice system. “The judiciary has not shown as much concern on the matter as it should have,” Fawad said. “The chief justices are appointed for a little time and they could not undertake judicial reforms alone.”
Referring to the recent report of Transparency International, he said this report presents judiciary and police as corrupt institutions in the public eye. He said better coordination between senior police officers and the judiciary was necessary for bringing reforms in the system. He disclosed that district and rural policing had been destroyed.
Fawad maintained that 5,500 people have been killed in extra-judicially killings since 1990. Fake police encounters were rampant during Shahbaz Sharif’s era and more than two thirds of extra-judicial killings took place during his era. After Pervez Musharraf came into power, extra-judicial killings stopped.
He also claimed that Shahbaz Sharif gave the task of these killings to Rana Maqbool who later appointed Governor Sindh and now the Senator. In the past, the police used to kill the people by taking money from private people, he added. Shahbaz Sharif was backing fake police encounters, he said.
Fawad also read out extracts from the book and highlighted past memories while he was studying in GC Lahore. He also mentioned names of his friends in media while he was a student. He announced that health cards will be provided to journalists within a week. He said media workers earning less than 50,000 rupees will also be given 30 percent subsidy on purchases of utility items.
Moreover, Fawad in a tweet said the farmers have received an additional income of four hundred billion rupees only on five major crops. He stated that the urea price in the world is ten thousand rupees per bag whilst in Pakistan its official rate is Rs 1700 per bag.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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