The menace of terrorism faced by the Muslim world is not only challenging the state writ but also brining a bad name to Islam, said Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani on Saturday. “Terrorism is taking human lives and hurting the ongoing development process, and the situation in Pakistan is being further aggravated further by a low literacy rate and rampant poverty,” said Durrani.He was addressing the concluding ceremony of a seven-day training course organised for journalists from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) here at the Information Service Academy (ISA). He said it was the responsibility of the journalists community to spread awareness about the miserable effects of extremism and terrorism in the country’s remote areas.
Durrani said the people of FATA and FANA had played an important role in the Pakistan Movement and the struggle for Azad Kashmir’s liberation. He regretted that successive regimes after independence had ignored the development of these areas. He said, however that the PML government had launched numerous development projects for FATA and FANA. “After acquiring the economic turnaround, the PML government decided to concentrate its resources on the economic uplift of the people, and FATA and the northern areas were given priority in this regard,” he said.
He said the Information Ministry would try to resolve all issues being faced by the FATA and FANA journalists community, adding that he had already contacted the NWFP governor and other relevant authorities regarding the improvement of the press club in FATA, and that a cohesive plan was being formulated in this regard.
He assured delegates that the ministry would hold more training workshops and courses for improving the skill and capacity building of journalists. “Press freedom is an honour and a challenge for the journalists community. Like common citizens, journalists should also promote national security and patriotism while discharging their duties,” he said.
He said journalists from FATA and FANA would be allocated special seats in the Media University and that the government would also award higher education scholarships to journalists from far-flung areas. ISA Director General Tahira Zia briefed participants about the course. The journalists present expressed their gratitude for the training facilities, and told the minister about the problems they were facing in underdeveloped areas.