Raja Riaz maintains stance against private TV anchors

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

* Azma Bukhari says assets of media representatives should be checked

* Rana Sanaullah says his party will stand with parliament

By Hussain Kashif

LAHORE: Punjab Senior Minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) parliamentary leader in the provincial assembly Raja Riaz, reiterating his stance against certain anchorpersons, claimed that they were Indian agents and took bribes for working against the democratic government and President Asif Ali Zardari.

Speaking in the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday, the PPP leader, on a point of order, said he maintained his previous stance regarding an anchor of a private TV channel that he was an Indian agent and has been bribed by India. Raja Riaz said the anchor had been issuing statements against President Zardari for the last two years on TV and was now regretting the disclosure of his identity as an Indian agent, however, the anchorpersons must understand that they could not damage the images of President Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, parliament and the democratic system in Pakistan.

Endorsing the same stance, another PPP member Azma Bukhari, on a point of order, blasted the anchorpersons, stating that the assets of media representatives should also be checked and shares and lobbies of all media groups should be disclosed. She raised a question on the current financial status of some anchorpersons, especially a newspaper journalist and two anchorpersons, and said they were ordinary journalists and only had motorbikes a few years ago, but now they were living luxurious lives and must be questioned for their properties and bungalows.

Continuing the debate, Shahjahan from the government benches said there was a need to probe into the relations of the anchors who were blaming parliamentarians. He also asked the speaker to take notice of the statement of Supreme Court Bar Association President Qazi Anwar in which he had claimed that all parliamentarians were “bogus and thieves”.

On a point of order, another member from the treasury benches suggested that laymen and people not qualifying as journalists must be ousted and only people having relevant degrees and academic background should be inducted in media organisations.

Defamation: Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said parliament was the base of the country and such allegations levelled against the parliamentarians were a dangerous sign. He said those who were corrupt themselves were accusing others of corruption. He said as institutions, they respected the media, assembly and the judiciary, but if some elements tried to defame these institutions, then his party would stand united with parliament. Sanaullah demanded the federal government introduce an accountability act.

Ealier, Sanaullah Mastikhel repeated his stance against certain private media groups regarding his educational degree.