Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani said on Monday that promotion of tolerance in society is dire need of the hour to move towards real democratic culture.
Speaking in a programme telecast by a private television channel, the minister said democracy is not merely a form of government but it is a culture, which should be adopted by everyone in his or her daily lives.
He said the government under the guidance of President Musharraf has taken a start in this direction, adding however it will take some time to clear the decades old backlog. "Be in politics or any other area of life, the attitude of rejection and intolerance has prevailed and flourished in society during the past six decades," he said.
The people in power are not in habit of showing tolerance to criticism while the press and media remained under curbs throughout the country's history, he added.
Negative tendencies kept flourishing in the society and essence of democracy was missing, he said. For the first time a government has committed itself to accept criticism with tolerance, he asserted and added the media's freedom is unprecedented in the country at present.
This is only a beginning and there is long way ahead to reach the destination wherein democracy would be an essential ingredient in the society. To a question, the minister said being a Muslim first of all he took inspiration from religious teaching, then from his team-mates, friends and all with whom he interacts in daily life.
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