National institutions urged to remain in their respective domains to avoid confrontation

ISLAMABAD, Feb 21 (APP):Speakers at a conference on the challenges being faced by the country and that the role of media here Wednesday asked national institutions to remain in their respective domain to avoid confrontation. They said media had always played its role in promoting democracy but it should also highlight the achievements of democratic governments.
The conference was organized by Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE).
Amir of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal, Maulana Fazalur Rehman said that politics and journalism were interlinked and journalism flourished only in democracy while in dictatorship it was strangulated.
He said that media should also highlight positive aspects of politics and politicians as Islam also did not like projecting only negative traits of the politicians.
He said that honesty was prerequisite of journalism and without honesty journalism was useless.
He said that all segments of the society would have to join hands to steer the country out of the present situation.
He also urged all national institutions to remain in their own domain.
Pakistan People’s Party leader Sherry Rehman said that media professionals had played important role in restoration of democracy in the country, adding that freedom of expression was not a slogan but a responsibility.
The PPP leader said that media had to play its role at a time, the country was standing at cross roads of history.She said that the PPP had always done politics of ideology, and its leadership was alive in history.
She said that the sacrifices of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto for sanctity of vote were obvious. Sherry stressed for efforts to avoid collision among the national institutions.
Office bearers of CPNE including Sardar Mehtab Khan, Shaheen Qureshi, Ikram Sehgal,and Zia Shahid also spoke on the occasion.