Hamid Mir, a outstanding Pakistani journalist who was taken off air indefinitely for making hard-hitting remarks towards the highly effective army institution, has stated that Imran Khan is a “helpless” prime minister and underlined that there’s a rising “climate of fear” for media personnel within the nation.
Mir, the host of the now-off air primetime political discuss present ‘Capital Talk’ of Geo News channel, on May 28 delivered a fiery speech at a protest staged by scribes towards an assault by three “unknown” individuals on journalist and YouTuber Asad Ali Toor in Islamabad.
Mir demanded accountability for the assault, which was a sequence of such assaults on media individuals who’re vital of the nation’s army.
Following his speech, he was taken off air on May 30.
In an interview to the BBC World Service from Islamabad, Mir criticised the shrinking area for press freedom and the rising “climate of fear” for journalists in Pakistan, the Dawn newspaper reported on Tuesday.
“There is democracy in Pakistan but there is no democracy. There is a Constitution in Pakistan but there is no constitution. And I am a living example of censorship in Pakistan,” Mir instructed Stephen Sackur, the host of the BBC present LaboriousTalk, on Monday in reply to a query on if Pakistan is out to silence unbiased journalism.
When requested whether or not he thinks Prime Minister Khan personally needs him taken off air and tried, Mir stated, “Imran Khan is not directly responsible for imposing a ban on me. I don’t think he wants me to be off air. But like past prime ministers, he is not a very powerful prime minister…he is helpless and he can’t help me.”
The Army, which has dominated Pakistan for greater than half of its 70 plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded appreciable energy within the issues of safety and overseas coverage. However, the army has denied meddling within the nation’s politics.
Replying to a query on if intelligence companies had been behind the assault on journalists, together with Toor who was attacked in his dwelling within the capital by masked males, Mir stated: “These are documented facts and the state agencies and the intelligence agencies were blamed again and again for organising attacks or kidnapping journalists.”
At the beginning of the discuss present, Sackur launched Mir as a high-profile journalist who has confronted a string of threats and assaults.
“He (Mir) says shadowy forces operating beyond public view wield enormous power in Pakistan and are seeking to control the media,” Sackur stated.
In June, Mir had apologised and stated he had no intention to defame the Pakistan Army.
“The purpose of my speech was not at all to hurt the feelings and sentiments of others but still I sincerely apologise if my words lacerated the sentiments of someone,” he had stated in an announcement.
