Calling cancellation of the license of a private news channel and arrests and intimidation of journalists by the coalition government worst in the history of electronic media of Pakistan, former information minister and PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said on Monday that truth of the matter was that there was no democracy but martial law in the country, reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

Speaking to the media outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) along with other party leaders, he said that motorways were being closed in order to prevent the people from marching on the federal capital. “Whosoever, the authorities think is critical of the country’s establishment is picked up. Only last night, Jameel Farooqui, a YouTuber, was arrested in Karachi. PTI social media activists are being whisked away by the law enforcement agencies. A private news channel was taken off air yesterday,” he lamented. 

PTI leader wondered how people could forget the statements issued by the PML-N leaders such as party Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Ataullah Tarar in which they had even gone to the extent of threatening the judges that their children would not be safe in case they gave decisions against them. “But sadly, no action was taken against them,” he regretted.  

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Fawad went on to add that the reports submitted by the jail administration to the court today had confirmed torture on PTI leader Shahbaz Gill. 

He said the way people came out on the roads in different cities of the country and flocked to former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s Bani Gala residence yesterday (Sunday, August 21, 2022) was enough to make the government realise that it would not be easy to arrest Imran, and that it would have to face people’s resistance in case it did so.  

He said that an attempt was being made to enforce the writ of a minority government in the country.  

Speaking on the occasion, former foreign minister and PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the PTI government had never imposed the restrictions which the imported government was imposing on media these days. “Not only that the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has banned the live coverage of PTI chairman’s speeches, but attempts were made yesterday to also disrupt the social media services so that the people could not listen to his speech at Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh,” he regretted.