Pak wrongly dragged in to controversy: Tarar

Minister says false, deliberate misinformation campaign was launched from hostile countries to malign Pakistan
ISLAMABAD
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that it was falsely claimed after the Bondi Beach shooting in Australia that one of the attackers was from Pakistan, holding “hostile countries” responsible for this campaign.
The tragic attack by two men on Sunday resulted in the death of 16 people, including one of the attackers. Soon after the incident, a Pakistan-origin man living in Sydney was misidentified as one of the attackers. Later, it was confirmed that among the father-son duo of suspects, the former, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, was from India and the latter, 24-year-old Naveed Akram, was born in Australia.
“When the incident happened, certain media outlets were very quick to state that one of the attackers was from Pakistan and the other one was born in Australia. “There was no evidence to prove this claim, there was no documentation, and there was no verification of this claim. But somehow, we know that this campaign was launched from hostile countries trying to malign Pakistan,” Tarar said during a media briefing in Islamabad.
The minister continued, “In Israel and India, this campaign was proliferated and posted on social media platforms, as well as electronic media platforms, which is very, very sad.”He highlighted that Pakistan had been a frontline state in the war against terrorism and continued to combat terrorists. Here, he also mentioned the Army Public School massacre that took place on December 16, 2014.
A total of 147 people, including 132 students, were martyred and 180 were injured in the attack. “So, we are a country whose children have also given sacrifices, whose children have laid down their lives in this war against terrorism,” Tarar said, adding that it was unfortunate that a “false campaign” was run against Pakistan.
He reiterated that there was not even a shred of evidence or any reliable source to back the claim that one of the Bondi Beach attackers was from Pakistan. Tarar further stated that the “misinformation campaign” against Pakistan was run deliberately, adding that it saddened him that very well-reputed media outlets fell prey to this “disinformation campaign”.
The minister said that these media houses and outlets, operating globally, had editorial boards and systems in place to verify information. “There are structures, there is a hierarchy through which information is passed on, and editorial control is exercised. Even then, they failed to exercise the basic norms of journalism,” he said, reiteraring that it was falsely claimed that one of the attackers was from Pakistan.
The claim, he said, was refuted as Indian police issued a press release on Tuesday stating that one of the suspects was from Hyderabad in India. He added that it had also been confirmed that the Indian embassy in Sydney had issued the suspect his passport. “In fact, he travelled to the Phillipines on that Indian passport as confirmed by the Philippines authorities,” Tarar said. “So, I don’t know why this campaign was run. But, it is very, very unfortunate.”
The minister then played a video that he said detailed how the campaign was run and which media outlets were involved in it. Tarar also appreciated Australian authorities for “conducting themselves very professionally throughout the investigation. Despite the vicious campaign which was run all over the international media, they did not cast any aspersions in this regard, and they actually waited for this information to be verified”.
Saying that now that it was clear that the suspect was from India, Tarar added, “My question is, and I have the right to question, that who is going to cover the damage that was caused to Pakistan through these fake posts and false information. The minister said the Inter-Service Public Relations director general and he, too, had shared evidence of terrorism in Balochistan and Kyber Pakhtunkhwa being backed and funded by Pakistan.
Saying that the Afghanistan government had been cosying up to India these days, Tarar questioned: “What is the main reason behind it? Do they have any bilateral trade? Do they have other areas of mutual cooperation the great potential of which they want to realise?” Reiterating that there was “irrefutable evidence of Indian terrorism in Pakistan”, he alleged that the country was not just involved in funding terrorism but also planning the attacks in Balochistan and KP.
Again highlighting that Pakistan had been fighting terrorism for long and rendered sacrifices in doing so, Tarar repeated that the campaign against Pakistan following the Bondi Beach shooting was unfortunate. — DNA