Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb has clarified that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s press talk that was supposedly ‘deleted’ from PTV was in fact a private conversation with journalists that was never meant to be aired.
Responding to a question about the speech that was later taken down from PTV, the minister clarified that cameras were not allowed in the meeting PM Abbasi had with journalists after a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on Monday.
“This narrative (of the video being deleted) has been doing the circles for a few days,” Marriyum responded, adding, “If the video had been deleted or prevented from being aired, I would have made a statement on this. It was my decision to take the video off since the press talk was never meant to be aired publicly.”
She also criticised the media’s penchant of relying on ‘sources’, saying,
“A recent trend has emerged where media outlets rely on sources. If the media had approached me directly instead of resorting to these sources, I would have clarified the matter. However, since this narrative (of the video being deleted) emerged, I decided to let it be.”
The video in question refers to when PM Abbasi met journalists after the NSC’s meeting on Monday. The NSC, in turn, met to discuss the controversial remarks Nawaz Sharif gave to English daily Dawn.
In an interview with Dawn newspaper, the ousted premier seemed to suggest that state elements in Pakistan were responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 170, and significantly damaged Pakistan’s relationship with India.
