Supreme Court and Prime Minister were requested to appoint commission for investigating serious allegations; Private channel ran tickers Khawaja Asif has seen proofs, defence minister denied this; Ministry of Defence referred application to PEMRA without seeing proofs; PEMRA also issued notice to Geo without investigation; Respect Pakistan Army, Jang editions and Geo programmes testify to this; Jang Group and Geo always served interests of country and nation while staying within ambit of constitution and law

KARACHI (Jang News): A spokesperson for Jang/Geo has said that in the application referred to PEMRA by the Ministry of Defence for action against Geo, they had complained about the news report regarding the attempt on the life of Hamid Mir and had alleged without any proof that the Jang Group is anti-state and traitor and has a history in this connection, and if proofs are sought, the Ministry of Defence could also provide the same.

When PEMRA took the action, Geo had immediately submitted its response to PEMRA stating that proofs of anti-state activities and treason should be sent urgently so that the complaint of the Ministry of Defence could be responded to. After this, a meeting of PEMRA was held. The respectful response of Geo was again submitted. Our lawyer Akram Sheikh and other officials verbally also stated repeatedly during the meeting that we should be provided proofs. After this, we also approached the Islamabad High Court and submitted there that allegations of anti-state activities and treason have been levelled against the Jang Group and Geo without any proof. Senior government representatives and PEMRA were repeatedly requested respectfully but despite this we have not been provided proofs till date.

After this, Geo repeatedly stated through advertisements in Jang and The News that we have not been provided proofs. In the advertisements, the Supreme Court and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had respectfully been requested that a commission be appointed for investigating allegations of anti-state activities and others against Geo/Jang Group.

The spokesperson said that different governments, different institutions and civil and military governments have also been levelling allegations of different natures against our group in the past because they differed with news reports, comments and programmes of our journalists. However, the Jang Group and Geo made concerted efforts for serving the interests of the country and nation while staying within the ambit of the constitution and law and the Jang Group and Geo always adopted positive attitude and asked the governments to prove the allegations in courts while journalists of Jang Group and Geo also proved their news reports true.

The spokesperson for the Jang Group and Geo said that the heinous and baseless allegations of anti-state activities and treason have been levelled against us, which have always been faced by the Jang Group and Geo courageously and boldly. Geo has also sent a Rs50 billion damages notice to PEMRA and the Ministry of Defence for calling it anti-state and traitor without any proof and defaming it.

The spokesperson said that journalists of Jang/Geo Group are facing threats because of this allegation and they are facing difficulties in discharging their professional duties. The spokesperson said that first the Ministry of Defence referred the application against Geo to PEMRA without seeing proofs and PEMRA too sent a notice to Geo without seeing proofs. It was duty of the Ministry of Defence and PEMRA to first seek proofs from the complainant, scrutinise it and then to forward it but both of them did not do so.

The spokesperson said we also want to say that the services of the Jang Group and Geo for the country and the nation are immortal and unparalleled. The organisation has suffered losses worth billions of rupees because of action against Geo. The spokesperson said that the Jang Group and Geo has always paid glowing tributes to the army for glorious services and as an institution, we immensely respect the Pakistan Army. Different articles and editions regarding the Pakistan Army published by newspapers of the Jang Group and innumerable exemplary programmes aired by Geo testify to this. Representatives of the army also lauded services of the Jang and Geo on different occasions. The Pakistan Army has never had any complaint against the Jang Group.

It is worth mentioning here that the organization has already tendered an apology for the news report aired regarding the attempt on the life of Hamid Mir. The spokesperson said that whatever Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif has said in an interview with ARY, had he also mentioned in the interview the issue of proof, there would have been no ambiguity. It may be recalled that ARY channel is constantly busy in propaganda against Geo. This channel started running tickers even in the midst of Khawaja Asif’s interview, saying Khawaja Asif has seen proofs. The series of tickers continued running till late night. However, Khawaja Asif tweeted very late in the night appealing to the people not to heed to the ARY tickers and to watch full interview attentively.

The spokesperson said we pray to Almighty Allah to guide us also towards the good and grant the patience, courage and fortitude as well as to grant us ability to remove mutual misunderstandings so that we can play our role for the progress of the country and nation. The spokesperson said that calling the Jang Group and Geo a traitor is a baseless and emotional thing so we hope, God willing, all misunderstandings in this regard will soon stand removed.