Islamabad, May 10: Ahead of return of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's brother from exile tomorrow to take over the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-N, the government has allegedly "pressurised" a private TV channel to cancel the telecast of an interview with Shahbaz Sharif. The interview with Shahbaz, who planned to return home ending over three-year-long exile abroad, was cancelled yesterday due to government pressure minutes before it was to be telecast by ARY digital channel, media reports said today.
According to the channel's management, they were "threatened" by the personnel of various security agencies that their Karachi office would be shut down and their staff picked up if they did not cancel the interview.
The cancellation followed reports of largescale arrests of PML-N cadre and leaders, especially in Lahore, where Shahbaz planned to arrive tomorrow along with his wife and daughters from Dubai. Shahbaz, who was exiled along with his brother and ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Jeddah by the government in December 2000, said the channel was forced to cancel the interview at the behest of President Pervez Musharraf himself.
The pressure to cancel the programme as well as ban on government advertisements to certain newspapers speaks volumes for the freedom of the press in Pakistan, he was quoted as saying by 'The Nation' daily.
"The government cannot stop me from coming back," he said, charging that the rulers "had lost their senses."
Bureau Report