ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Marriyum Aurangzeb Tuesday said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s criticism of the Police Department, “which had rendered remarkable sacrifices in war on terror”, was highly regrettable.
In a statement, the Minister said that officers and jawans of the Police Department had laid down their lives in the war on terror but Imran’s condemnation of the martyrs was shameful.
The Minister was referring to a statement issued by the PIT’s chief in which he slammed the provincial governments of Punjab and Sindh over alleged malpractices in police.
She said the entire nation was proud of the sacrifices of the Police Department. “Instead of criticism, Imran should have pondered over the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government’s performance in implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP).
She said that law enforcement agencies, innocent citizens and political leaders and workers had rendered great sacrifices in the war on terror and added that the martyrdom of former Punjab Minister Shuja Khanzada was its example.
Separately, the Minister Tuesday said that approval of a draft information bill by the Senate body had represented the fulfilment of yet another pledge of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s manifesto.
Talking to the media, the Minister said that the government, parliamentary committees, lawyers and members of the civil society had made a sterling contribution to finalise the draft bill, which she said would be presented in the next session of parliament. The Minister said that the information commission to be set up under the proposed law would be an independent and autonomous body.
She, however, pointed out that the bill would accord protection to the matters related to national security as well as those that could affect Pakistan’s relations with other countries.