Kamran Khan said that the apology, which had been published on the front pages of Jang and The News, was also aired on the 9.00pm news bulletin on Geo on Monday.The apology also refers to the background of the whole issue, and it also says that the need of the hour is to move forward together and to join hands for the supremacy of the Constitution in the country.
Geo management says that after the process of sincere self-accountability, editorial debates and the public opinion, we have arrived at the conclusion that our transmission on April 19 after the murderous attack on Hamid Mir had not only gone too far but it was also very emotional. Although the ISPR version was repeatedly telecast on April 19, yet we sincerely offer our apologies on the pain our transmission caused to the ISI as an institution, its Director-General Lieutenant-General Zaheer-ul-Islam, his family, the people affiliated to the armed forces and our viewers.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court on Monday issued several orders. In the first order, the meeting that had been summoned by Pemra and which was supposed to take up the Geo case was suspended. The court also suspended the show-cause notices issued by Pemra to its private members. In yet another order, the IHC suspended the notification of the appointment of Kamaluddin Tipu who the government had appointed in Pemra.
Kamran Khan said that these were the three important developments which cannot be said to be in favour of Geo.On the other hand, hearing into Geo applications was held at the Supreme Court where an extraordinary situation has developed in the form of a campaign against a Supreme Court judge, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja. Not only the campaign was seen on a television channel, but banners were also hoisted against him in Islamabad.
During the Supreme Court proceedings on Monday, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja asked the Islamabad administration as well as the Intelligence Bureau to trace those who had hoisted those banners and to ensure that no such incident happens again. He also said that Pemra is bound by a previous order by the Supreme Court issued in 2010 in which it had been said that Pemra was bound to see that Geo channels must be telecast in the cable operation right at the spots which had been reserved for it. Pemra must act against the cable operators if they are found to have violated the arrangement.
Senior journalist Arif Nizami, while speaking on the programme, said that the matter now should come to an end after Geo’s apology. He said that the future of the cause of the freedom of the press is at stake.
Arif Nizami said that he had gone through the apology offered by Geo, and as a professional journalist he would like to say that it is not enough and it has come too late.Arif Nizami said that the wordings used in the apology should have been simpler. He said that things have deteriorated so much that the apology Geo has offered will not be considered as an unconditional apology.
He said that the government is apparently saying that it is supporting Geo and it is supporting freedom of expression, but the matter is not so straightforward as far as Pemra is concerned.
In a different segment of the programme, Kamran Khan said that today has been a historic day: the Indian prime minister was taking oath at a ceremony where Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was also in attendance. The two prime ministers shook hands today, and tomorrow they will meet for an hour which is a good beginning. The world is watching the development with interest since Narendra Modi had been a very harsh critic of Pakistan.
Kamran Khan said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in an interview to an Indian television channel has said that he wants to resume the talks’ process with India from where the process had collapsed in 1999.
In a yet different segment of the programme, Kamran Khan, while commenting on the MQM rally in Karachi, said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement exhibited its political might, and MQM activists from all over Sindh converged on the venue of the rally in Karachi and expressed solidarity with their leader, Altaf Hussain.
Kamran Khan said that the purpose of the rally was to convey a message to British Prime Minister David Cameron. There were several questions addressed to the British government and its prime minister. The questions referred to the matters which are being investigated by the Scotland Yard concerning the MQM leadership in Britain.
Kamran Khan said that the main speech of the rally was delivered not by Altaf Hussain but by Farooq Sattar.A very important question concerned the disruption that some of the actions of the British government and that of its police have been causing to the education of Altaf Hussain’s daughter, Afza Altaf.
Kamran Khan said that it has been weeks since the ceasefire between the government and the Taliban expired and there have been terrorist incidents since the ceasefire expired. He said that six terrorist incidents took place in the last three days in which 25 people embraced martyrdom. There is a serious threat of terrorism incidents, and the government is working hard to deal with the eventuality. The provinces have been asked to do their own contingency planning. The planning is also being conducted in Islamabad for which the Army and the police will coordinate their efforts. The corps commander of Rawalpindi has recently presided a meeting on the security of Rawalpindi-Islamabad which was also attended by the IG of Islamabad and other high police officials. A comprehensive plan has been devised. From Islamabad, three companies of the 111 Brigade have been told to be ready to assist the civil administration.
Commenting on the international affairs, Kamran Khan said that the West wants to improve its ties with Iran while Pakistan is also trying to improve its relations with Iran.Besides, the Arab countries in the region are also aspiring to improve their relations with Iran.
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