ISLAMABAD: Former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Asma Jehangir, has said that closure of Geo TV is a violation of the Constitution and an indirect aggression against the independence of the media, which should be condemned.
Talking to the Geo News on Wednesday, Asma said that the institution which we had made strong with our hard labour should not approach cable operators. She said that it was very painful and should be condemned because when pressure was exerted on cable operators, it affected the right of information of general public.
This was a violation of the Constitution and was an indirect aggression against the free media. She said that this should not have happened. She said that we should look forward and bury the hatchet.
Asma Jehangir said that it doesn’t go well with the institution, which was improved with our hard work, to approach cable operators. She said that the authority was the moral authority of the government. She further stated that a government comes to power with a mandate, and the people accept and respect the government’s authority.
She said that democracy was weak in our country and the writ was not established politically. But once it is established, no one dare challenge the authority of the information minister when he says something. She said that when cable operators come under pressure, it means that there was a more powerful authority than the government.
Asma Jehangir said had she been a part of the government, there would have been no one stronger than her. She said that if she comes to power with the mandate and could not establish her writ, then there was no use of her being in power.