ISLAMABAD: A longtime aide to Prime Minister Imran Khan and the newly appointed chief of Pakistan’s Digital Media Wing (DMW) said this week he would not allow official social media channels to be used to push “personal or party” agendas.
The cabinet of PM Khan approved the new digital unit in February this year, and appointed Imran Ghazali as its general manager on August 3. Ghazali, a longtime media executive, is one of the founding members of the social media team of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the political party founded and headed by PM Khan.
The DMW, which has a 22-member team of content writers, graphic designers, video editors and videographers, has received funding of Rs42.791 million, or $256,000, from the government to kickstart its work.
“Our sole mandate is to provide the public with genuine official information on social media platforms,” Ghazali told Arab News in an interview. “Let me assure our critics that we won’t be pushing any personal or party agenda through official digital channels.”
Responding to criticism that he has been hired because of his closeness to the prime minister, Ghazali said: “I’m hired for the job based on my years of industry experience, and through a rigorous official process.”
Ghazali has previously worked as head social media consultant at DFID’s family planning project DAFPAK, led digital strategy for UNICEF for the Clean Green Pakistan initiative and worked as a consultant for the World Bank, among many other senior positions in the media industry.
APP, Pakistan’s state news agency, reported on February 4 that the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet had approved the creation of a new digital media unit in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
“The purpose of the wing would be to effectively counter the fake and libellous news and highlight the development agenda of the government,” the APP said.
The creation of the new digital media unit has raised concerns the government is taking yet another step to curb press freedoms.
Last month, Pakistan’s interior minister said the government planned to introduce new laws to curb coronavirus misinformation on social media platforms in a move that has stoked fears authorities will use the additional powers to suppress criticism of government policies. The government denies this.
The National Command and Operation Center, a top federal body set up to oversee the government’s coronavirus mitigation efforts, has also set up a committee under the chairmanship of the interior minister to prepare a legal framework to help the government deal with “fake news” on social media platforms.
In February, the government approved, and then rolled back, new rules to regulate cyberspace after opponents said they could be used to stifle dissent. Social media companies have also largely shunned obliging to help law enforcement agencies access data and remove online content deemed unlawful.
Last year, the government’s plans to launch specialist media courts also sparked a furious backlash from media and rights advocates amid complaints of growing pressure on broadcasters and newspapers to avoid covering critics of the ruling administration, which the administration denies.
But Ghazali said the new digital wing was only meant to release informative videos and data-driven content to improve Pakistan’s image abroad and counter ‘propaganda’ against the country.
“We need to show the world through digital platforms that Pakistan is a peaceful and peace loving country, and we’ll be doing this to attract foreign tourists and investment,” he said.
Ghazali said his team’s first task would be to create official social media accounts of all government ministries, as only ten to twelve departments currently had a digital presence.
“This is the age of Internet and social media, so we have to boost our presence to connect with the public,” he said, adding: “We won’t be working for ministers or any government functionary, instead our role is to strengthen the overall digital media presence of the state.”
Nighat Dad, executive director of the Digital Rights Foundation, said it would be a challenge for the new digital media unit to be an impartial body that provided reliable news and didn’t push the government’s agenda.
“Its [the wing’s] TORs [terms of reference] should be made public as people deserve to know what their mandate is and what they are doing,” she said. “The officials of the digital media wing should be neutral, transparent and there must be an independent accountability system, so taxpayers money is not squandered.”
Won’t push partisan 'agendas' through Pakistan digital media wing, its chief says
https://arab.news/rhf2h
Won’t push partisan 'agendas' through Pakistan digital media wing, its chief says
- Imran Ghazali is one of the founding members of the social media team of PM Khan’s ruling Tehreek-e-Insaf party
- Digital Media Wing was set up in February “to effectively counter fake and libellous news and highlight development agenda of government”
Pakistani ministry signs agreement with National Testing Service for selection of Hajj staff
- Pakistan selects hundreds of assistants via competitive process every year to facilitate local pilgrims
- Pakistan has received 82,000 applications for next year’s Hajj pilgrimage under government scheme
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani ministry of religious affairs has signed an agreement with the National Testing Service, which will hold exams for the selection of supervisors and assistants for next year’s Hajj pilgrimage, the ministry said on Thursday.
Pakistan selects hundreds of assistants and doctors from federal and provincial government departments via a competitive process every year to facilitate local pilgrims in performing the rituals of the annual pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan had received 82,000 applications for next year’s Hajj under the government scheme by Tuesday when the submission deadline ended. Saudi Arabia has allotted Pakistan a quota of 179,210 pilgrims, to be divided equally between government and private schemes. The government extended the deadline for applications twice this month, first from Dec. 3 to Dec. 10, and then to Dec. 17, as it aims to fill over 89,000 seats under the federal government quota.
“Like last year, this year too, the selection of Hajj Assistants who will be sent on Hajj duty will be done through National Testing Service,” the religious affairs ministry said.
“According to the agreement, staff will be appointed on the basis of merit as per the federal and provincial quotas, in which a specific ratio of new and experienced assistants has been kept … Government employees and officers of Scale 7 to 18 will be eligible to apply.”
The ministry said it would “soon” announce the selection through an advertisement.
The ministry of religious affairs trains Hajj assistants and pilgrims every year ahead of their departure to Saudi Arabia to ensure all aspects of the pilgrimage process, including food, transportation, and accommodation in Makkah and Madinah, run smoothly.
Pakistan last year sent 550 Hajj assistants and 400 doctors and paramedical staff to Saudi Arabia to facilitate pilgrims.
Pakistani president calls for greater parliamentary cooperation with Saudi Arabia
- Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council is on three-day visit to Pakistan
- Council is legislative body that advises the king and his regulatory authority
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday met Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al-Sheikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council, and discussed enhancing parliamentary cooperation and high-level exchanges with the Kingdom.
The chairman of the Shura Council, a legislative body that advises the king and his regulatory authority, is on a three-day visit to Pakistan, during which he has met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gillani, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and others.
“President Zardari has emphasized the need for enhancing parliamentary cooperation and high-level exchanges with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to deepen the fraternal relationship between Pakistan and KSA,” the president’s office said in a press release on Thursday after he met the visiting dignitary.
“He reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to further strengthening economic, political, and cultural ties with KSA for the mutual benefit of both nations … both sides emphasized the need to transform the longstanding bilateral relationship into a more robust and strategic partnership.”
Zardari also expressed concern over the conflict in the Middle East, saying Pakistan stood in solidarity with “brothers and sisters” from Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are longtime allies, with Islamabad seeking closer economic, defense and security ties with the Kingdom, host to nearly 2.5 million Pakistani expatriates and the largest source of remittances for the cash-strapped South Asian nation.
Pakistan says five killed, no information on missing as search ends in Greece boat tragedy
- Report in Geo News says at least 40 Pakistanis killed in migrant boat tragedy off Greek island of Gavdos last week
- Six cases filed against suspects accused of facilitating transport of victims from Punjab to Libya where they boarded boats
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s mission in Greece said on Thursday five Pakistanis had been killed in a migrant boat tragedy off the Greek island of Gavdos last week but it had “no concrete information” on how many of its nationals were missing.
The latest incident of the boat capsizing highlights the perilous journeys many migrants undertake due to conflicts and lack of economic opportunities in their home countries.
In 2023, hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel capsized and sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek coastal town of Pylos. It was one of the deadliest boat disasters ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.
A report in Pakistan’s Geo News on Thursday said at least 40 Pakistanis had been killed in the latest tragedy, quoting the embassy in Athens.
“So far, we have information of five dead Pakistanis and another 47 who have been rescued. No concrete information of missing persons is with us, and this is the final information available at this time,” an official at Pakistan’s mission in Greece told Arab News over the telephone, declining to be named.
“We are in contact with the authorities who have concluded their special search operation.”
The official added that regular patrolling would continue, and Greek authorities would inform the mission if any new information became available. He declined to comment on the Geo News report and referred Arab News to the foreign office.
Speaking to Arab News, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the government had already released death toll figures and had no further information.
“We cannot comment on people’s statements or claims regarding how many Pakistanis were on board until we receive evidence from the investigation,” she said in response to a question about the Geo News report that 40 Pakistanis were feared dead. “It is difficult to verify the claimed figure, as there was no official record of their travel.”
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered strict measures to combat human trafficking and demanded a detailed report on human trafficking incidents involving Pakistani citizens this year.
Separately, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has filed six cases against suspects accused of facilitating the transport of victims from Punjab to Libya, where they were subsequently sent on boats to Greece.
Greece was a favored gateway to the European Union for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia in 2015-2016, when nearly 1 million people landed on its islands, mostly via inflatable dinghies.
Incidents with migrant boats and shipwrecks off Crete and its tiny neighbor Gavdos, which are relatively isolated in the central Mediterranean, have increased over the past year.
Pakistan calls for transport connectivity, trade corridors between D-8 developing nations
- PM Sharif is in Cairo to attend Eleventh Summit of D-8 countries, hold bilateral meetings with world leaders on forum’s sidelines
- Pakistani PM will also and attend a special meeting on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East with a focus on Palestine and Lebanon
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday called for better transport connectivity and trade corridors between member states from the D-8 developing group of nations to boost regional trade and economic cooperation.
Sharif arrived in Cairo on Wednesday to lead the Pakistan delegation at the Eleventh Summit of D-8 countries, hold bilateral discussions with multiple world leaders on the sidelines of the forum and attend a special meeting on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with a focus on Gaza and Lebanon.
The D-8 grouping promotes economic and development cooperation among Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Türkiye. Key areas of cooperation are agriculture, trade, transportation, industry, energy and tourism.
The bloc’s latest summit is themed “Investing in Youth and Supporting SMEs: Shaping Tomorrow’s Economy.”
“Connectivity is a force multiplier and is rightly hailed as a vehicle for peace and prosperity,” Sharif said as he addressed the summit. “We need to explore the possibilities of developing and enhancing transport connectivity among D-8 member states for building efficient intra-trade corridors and reliable supply chains.
In this regard, the Pakistan, Iran and Turkiye corridor is an excellent project for very efficient connectivity.”
The Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul Road Transport Corridor is a cross-border trade initiative aimed at improving road transport links and providing more efficient movement options for goods between South Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
Pakistan naval chief holds defense cooperation, regional security talks during visit to Oman
- Oman is the nearest Arab country to Pakistan, because of which they share a maritime boundary
- Last week, the Pakistan navy conducted joint naval exercises and drills with the Royal Oman ship ‘Alseeb’
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani naval chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf is on an official visit to Oman to discuss defense cooperation, smuggling and regional maritime security, the military’s media wing said on Thursday.
Oman is the nearest Arab country to Pakistan, because of which they share a maritime boundary. Pakistan shares a unique ‘blood bond’ with Oman, one third of whose population originates from Pakistan’s Balochistan province, while the southwestern port city of Gwadar, which is 200 nautical miles from Oman, was transferred to Pakistan in 1958, before which it had remained gifted to the Sultan of Oman for 175 years.
“During the meetings, the security situation in the Indian Ocean and joint defense cooperation were discussed,” the military’s media wing said after Ashraf had separate meetings with the minister of the Royal Office of the Sultanate of Oman, and the commanders of the Omani Royal Navy and National Defense College.
“Naval Chief highlighted the role of Pakistan Navy in preventing piracy and smuggling,” the statement said. “Pakistan Navy is a strong supporter of promoting maritime security in collaboration with other regional countries.”
Last week, the Pakistan navy conducted joint naval exercises and drills with Royal Oman ship ‘Alseeb.’ The bilateral naval exercise, “Samar Al-Tayeb,” is conducted regularly between the navies of the two nations.
