Altaf Hamid Rao.
Islamabad/ MIRPUR-( AJK) (Parliament Times) : Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry has said that the media and all political parties should play their role to highlight the Kashmir issue at the global level.
Speaking at an Iftar dinner hosted in honour of the newly elected office bearers kashmiri print media body in the federal metropolis the president reiterated his commitment to strengthening the state media to ensure its more vibrant role to raise importance of early settlement of Kashmir issue at international from t.
Barrister Sultan said that all possible steps would be taken to address the problems being faced by the journalists and media organizations in Azad Kashmir.
He also appreciated the state media for its role in promoting the Kashmir cause and highlighting the issues of public interest. The president assured the journalists fraternity that he would play his due role to steer the state media out of the troubling situation.
Terming the development of the state media as the first priority of the government, he said that the problems of journalists would be solved through the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Press Foundation .”Let me assure you that one percent of the development budget allocated for the media will be used for the development of newspapers and media”, he said, adding that the decision taken on the matter would be implemented in letter and spirit.
“We want newspapers to stand on their own feet”, he said.The president on the occasion stressed the need for an Accountability Bureau’s effective role in Azad Kashmir. Referring to the attempts being made to restore the Accountability Act to it’s original shape, he said that the Act, which was adopted in 2001, was rendered toothless by the subsequent governments.Referring to the worsening political and human rights situation in IoK, the president said that the media should play its much needed role to expose Modi’s nefarious designs before the international community. “Since August 5, 2019, India has unleashed a reign of terror in Occupied Kashmir”, he said, adding that human rights violations were on the rise in Occupied Kashmir.
About the rising tides of xenophobia within Indian society, the president said that minorities living in India were being persecuted and subjected to ill treatment. In such a terrible situation, the president said that the media has an important role in exposing to the world the fascist face of the RSS-influenced regime led by Modi. Speaking on the occasion, the AKNS President Amjad Chaudhry said that the state media was playing a leading role in exposing the atrocities committed by Indian forces in Occupied Kashmir.
He also highlighted the problems being faced by the media organizations. He said that the written demands of the AKNS approved by the Prime Minister and subsequent announcements made in this regard should be implemented without any further delay .The Iftar dinner was attended by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information, Chaudhry Muhammad Rafiq Nayyar, Information Secretary Ansar Yaqoob, Director General of Information Department Raja Azhar Iqbal, Media Advisor Sardar Zahid Tabsum, and others. Whereas the AKNS President Amjad Chaudhry, Former President AKNS Aamir Mehboob, President Kashmir Journalists Forum Khawar Nawaz Raja, and a large number of Kashmiri journalists based in Azad Kashmir and Rawalpindi, were present on the occasion.
