PESHAWAR: In an unprecedented move, the secretariat of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has sought action against the reporter of an Urdu language daily for “misreporting” and asked its editor that all the “disinformation news” in his daily and other newspapers against the assembly must be stopped.
“Strange! Isn’t it?” a senior official of the assembly secretariat asked this scribe while sharing the copy of the letter of the assembly secretariat to the editor of the Urdu daily.
The record appended to the letter of the assembly secretariat actually referred to large-scale fraud cases in the disbursement of relief funds for earthquake affectees in Upper Dir district that were earthed in January this year.
The deputy commissioner under letter No 639-46 DC/Rel:Asstt/EQ dated 14-1-2016, had informed the provincial government and also the district police officer (DPO) that following an enquiry into the reported cases of fraud into the receipt of relief cheques, action against those who fraudulently received the cheques must be taken.
Media carried a detailed story on January 16 about these frauds cases in the earthquake funds in Upper Dir.Later, the matter echoed in the provincial legislature and Sahibzada Sanaullah, Member Provincial Assembly (MPA), submitted two questions in the House on the matter. These were later referred to the assembly’s Standing Committee on Relief and Settlement Department.
The committee took up the matter in its meetings and decided that the former deputy commissioner and former and incumbent assistant commissioners Wari should produce the relevant record at its meeting scheduled for August 17.
However, the officers couldn’t be called for the meeting as the chairman was abroad and was unable to sign the minutes of the previous meeting. But the said Urdu daily reported the matter as if the matter was taken up at the August 17 meeting.
It irked the chairman of the committee who submitted a privilege motion in the matter.The assistant secretary-II of the assembly secretariat on Sunday under a letter PA/KP/Legis-III.Com No.(1) 2016 dated Peshawar, 16/12/2016-17126 wrote to the editor of daily Mashriq that Muhammad Ali, MPA, who is also chairman Standing Committee on Relief and Settlement Department has a privilege motion in the House against his daily “with regard to the misreporting of (August 17) proceedings of the Standing Committee.”
Referring to the minutes of the meeting attached to the letter, the assembly secretariat official termed the plea of the MPA as genuine “as there was no discussion on the agenda item regarding the matter of the funds distribution in Upper Dir and it was kept pending.”
“But the special reporter has made premature/wrong statements which is not a responsible way of reporting,” read the assistant secretary’s letter.
The provincial assembly officer sought action against the reporter by the daily’s administration and said, “Not only this but all disinformation news in Mashriq and other newspapers against the assembly must be stopped.”
Strangely enough, he also addressed copies of the letter to the chief editors of Express, Jang, Media, Dawn and Aaj.A senior officer in the assembly secretariat said it was unprecedented in his decades-long career that copies of any complaint against a reporter or newspaper have been sent to other papers or chief editors by the assembly.He said it demonstrated the policy of the secretariat to pre-empt the media coverage of the issues being discussed at the meetings of the assembly committees.
