ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting expressed strong displeasure on Thursday over the absence of senior officials of Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) to brief the committee on inquiry regarding PTV's infamous map controversy.
Faisal Javed Khan from the ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) presided over the committee meeting. The committee reviewed the matter taken up by Senator Musadik Malik in Senate on June 8, 2020, regarding PTV's 'blunder' to show a controversial map in a TV programme. The committee expressed strong annoyance that top PTV officials did not attend the meeting to brief the committee regarding inquiry into the matter. The Senate panel also expressed its anger that the inquiry report into the matter was still awaited. The committee asked the Information Ministry to produce the said inquiry report before the committee at the earliest.
The committee members including Pervaiz Rashid were of the view that the PTV management launched a ceremonial inquiry into the infamous map controversy and punished only some junior officials while baling out the senior management. "It seems that the junior officials have been made scapegoat in order to save the skin of real culprits who are in the PTV's top management," he said while impliedly referring to the alleged involvement of Managing Director, PTV, Arshad Khan, and other senior officials of his team into the matter.
"Any inquiry that aims to save the skin of real culprits is unacceptable. We want a real inquiry to determine the real causes of this blunder. It is not a small issue. This incident has earned Pakistan massive embarrassment. The culprits must not be allowed to go unpunished," he said.
Committee chairman said that Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani took notice of the issue and ordered an inquiry but still the PTV management has not compiled with the chairman Senate's directions. "This is just unacceptable," Faisal Javed said. Another committee member Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said the PTV's head of marketing was summoned in the previous meetings also but he did not show up. "This kind of indifference and disregard to Parliament and its committees should not go unnoticed. This is not a small issue. Prime Minister Imran Khan has been making his all out efforts to highlight Kashmir cause at the international forums and there is no room for blunders like map controversy."
The committee recommended that those involved in the infamous map controversy should be handed exemplary punishments.
It merits mention here that on June 6, 2020, the PTV in its morning show Rising Pakistan showed a 'map' of Pakistan which featured Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) as part of India. Additionally, the said 'map' excluded Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) from Pakistan's territory. This attracted strong backlash on social media with federal ministers including Shireen Mazari and Fawad Chaudhry having strongly condemned this move. On June 8, chairman Senate referred the matter to the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting.
Meanwhile, the committee also discussed the recent incidents involving alleged abductions of journalists by unknown elements and considered to invite the victims in its next meeting to brief the committee on the issue.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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