Nisar urges media to play a frontline role

Fight against terrorists is collective responsibility of the nation and doing politics on this sensitive issue tantamount to betraying the country, said Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Saturday. He was talking to representatives of journalists' organisations, including All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) and Pakistan Broadcasting Association (PBA). Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Marriyum Aurangzeb, was also present on the occasion.
The minister said, "The war against terrorists is our collective responsibility and one cannot even think of doing politics on it as it is a matter of national interest." According to an official statement issued by the Interior Ministry, Khan said: "He being an interior minister neither do politics on the issue of terrorism nor criticise and hold anyone responsible in this regard. "I believe that doing politics on the issue of terrorism is a big sin and an injustice with the country and the nation," he added.
For the first time, he has responded to the criticism of opposition after Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine incident in Sehwan. Nisar said that the law and order situation has improved significantly in the country during the last three-and-a-half years due to collective efforts made against terrorism. The number of explosions has reduced from more than 2,000 to 700 per year, at present, he said, adding that no loss of life was reported in 260 of the total 700 incidents of explosions.
"The credit of improvement in the law and order should not be given to a single institution or to the government only, but it became possible due to collective efforts," he said, adding that giving any single person, government or institution credit for this was also inappropriate.
The minister urged the media to play a frontline role to unite the whole nation in the psychological fight against the menace of terrorism. "I always appreciate the role of media. Airing the comments of representatives of terror outfits was completely stopped by the media organisations after the Army Public School (APS) Peshawar attack two years ago," he added. He said that media has great strength and reach towards public and it should play a role to motivate people by keeping them united and determined against terrorism. He said that the media should not only avoid airing violent and misleading agenda, but also promote real image and narrative to get success in psychological war against terrorism, after success in operational war.
Later, representatives of the media organisations also shared their views on important aspects of terrorism and discussed national issues. They expressed their resolve that the responsible media would play a constructive role in the fight against terrorism.
The meeting was attended by representatives of media organisations, including Sarmad Ali, Mian Aamir Mehmood, Shakeel Masood, Ijazul Haq, Mehtab Khan, Umer Mujeeb Shami, Shaheen Qureshi, Jamil Ahmed, Tahir Farooq and Abdul Basit. Senior journalists - Arif Nizami and Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami - also attended the meeting.