Looters of national wealth shouldn’t pose as innocent: Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry Thursday said after the conviction and release of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report, the opposition began talking about the masses and economy.Reacting to the opposition leader’s media conference, the minister wished the opposition could have thought about the pain of people and the worsening economy when it was in government. “When the alarm bells started ringing, people threw them out of power,” he alleged.Fawad continued that what the opposition had done during its rule, the masses were now bearing the brunt of it, as the economy had been ruined and Pakistan was trapped in a heap of loans.He alleged that those who had ruthlessly looted the people’s wealth were crying today claiming to be innocent. He advised the opposition leaders to hold news conference against Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif for looting the national wealth so that they should return it to Pakistan. “The opposition leaders’ news conference held today is like abetting the looters in their crime. They are not ready to accept the practical step towards construction of Mohmand Dam,” he claimed.The minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan’s biggest distinction was his honesty and the symbols of dishonesty should seek forgiveness for their deeds instead of giving advice to the government.Meanwhile, he said improvement in Pak-US relations was important for regional stability. In a tweet, he said Pakistan had suffered immensely in the war on terrorism. He said bilateral relations would move towards further improvement if the US also understood Pakistan’s significance and the role it played in the war on terror.The minister made it clear that peace in Pakistan was linked with Afghanistan, adding that the US also had extremely important role in the context of Afghan stability. He also shared a statement by the US President Donald Trump earlier in which he said his country desired great relationship with Pakistan and that he was looking forward to meeting with the new Pakistani leadership.In another tweet, the minister said PTI was actually the revolution of middle class. He said since the middle class was the most vocal, therefore, often the reaction on some matters was immediate and comes without a complete picture.Fawad, however, said at present there was an unwavering faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan and noted this was the reason that criticism on a single matter could not hold its ground.Meanwhile, addressing the passing out ceremony of 35th Specialized Training Program of Probationary Officers at the Information Services Academy here, Fawad said in the coming times ideas would be more important than weapons.He regretted that in the past the importance and significance of Pakistan was not highlighted and instead during the last five years, books were written against Pakistan.Speaking about massive progress in technology, the minister said censorship would slip out of hands of the government owing to fast technology and that the social media was making fantastic progress while the future of print media did not appear to be promising.The minister, however, said the use of digital technology in the state media would be improved. He noted the academies working under the Ministry of Information were also being merged. Underscoring the importance of his ministry, Fawad emphasised that the Ministry of Information was supposed to safeguard interests of the state.

from The News International - Top Story http://bit.ly/2BY9J2W