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| India-Pakistan |
| Every Pakistani must respect armed forces: Musharraf |
| 2007-05-31 |
| JEHLUM: President General Pervez Musharraf said on Wednesday that it is every Pakistani’s responsibility to ensure that the sanctity and reverence of national institutions, such as the armed forces, is maintained. Addressing army officers at the Jehlum Garrison on Wednesday, Gen Musharraf, in reference to criticism of the military’s role in governance, said that the armed forces were in the barracks and claims to the contrary were unfortunate. He said the speeches and slogans at a seminar at the Supreme Court auditorium last Saturday were an “assault on the superior courts”. The languages used at the seminar “humiliated” the armed forces and the judiciary. The president also criticised the media, saying it must not politicise what was purely a judicial and legal matter. He was referring to the presidential reference against the chief justice of Pakistan. He said the media must abide by the code of conduct approved by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA). He said the media in Pakistan had been granted unprecedented freedom. The government has no intention of curbing this freedom, Gen Musharraf said, but he underlined the need for responsible journalism and avoiding exaggeration in reporting on the judicial crisis. He said most private TV channels were reporting responsibly, but some channels were airing talks shows with “unbalanced reporting and presentation” that were creating pressure on judges. He said “a section of the electronic media” had been spreading “despondency, distortion and ambiguity” and “the achievements of the government are being submerged by the propaganda of vested interests aimed at personal and political gain”. The president said reference against the chief justice was a state issue which was put above their personal relationship. He denied that the chief justice was called to the Presidential Camp Office, saying the judge himself requested the meeting. Gen Musharraf said the media is free to criticise any action of the government, but their actions must not demoralise the nation. He said the US media, which is considered the freest in the world, does not show the dead bodies of American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, so as not to hurt the morale of their soldiers and people. But the media in Pakistan blatantly showed images of dying people on the street. He said defeating extremism was Pakistan’s biggest challenge today, and warned that any terrorist attack in the West would have an adverse affect on the county. |
| Posted by:John Frum |