ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership offered unconditional apology to journalists on Monday over the controversial remarks by Chief Minister Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur at a rally near Sangjani Sunday.
The journalists covering the proceedings of National Assembly staged a walkout from the press gallery in protest against KP Chief Minister’s remarks about certain journalists, dubbing them as sellouts, etc.
With this, PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan along the opposition leader in NA Omar Ayub, rushed to the press gallery and offered an unconditional apology.
After persuading the protesting journalists while speaking on a point of order in the house, he said that the journalists have “accepted our unconditional apology” and returned to the house.
“We respect the entire journalist community,” Gohar said. “I extend an unconditional apology for any hurt caused by the chief minister’s remarks, which were directed at only a few journalists.”
He clarified that the speech was political, adding, “We have no intention of escalating tensions. If we wanted to take the law into our hands, we could have done so by now. There is immense public pressure for PTI founder Imran Khan’s release.”
The opposition leader in National Assembly Omar Ayub said that media owners are under immense pressure from spy agencies which include Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI), Intelligence Bureau (IB), etc, to broadcast their “dictation” for which the professional journalists have no fault.
“Given this, the working journalists have no fault as they undertake their professional duties with honesty, but things get changed when it is time to run the stories by the media owners,” he said, adding, “If their [journalists] sentiments were hurt [after Gandpur’s speech], I offer unconditional apology on behalf of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.”
Last night, journalists had announced their intention to file a lawsuit against CM Gandapur following his derogatory remarks for them at the PTI rally.
The KP CM while addressing the rally at Islamabad’s Sangjani made severe allegations, labelling journalists as “sellouts” and “brokers”. These statements were strongly condemned by reporters.
Additionally, journalists reported that PTI workers surrounded the DSNG (Digital Satellite News Gathering) vehicles present at the rally site during Gandapur’s speech.
They expressed concerns for their safety, stating that the atmosphere created by the CM’s address had put them at risk.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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