Pakistan's Maryam Nawaz accuses Imran Khan govt of silencing dissent, censorship

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s administration has been accused of quelling anti-government protests, imprisoning dissenters and political leaders with the help of the country’s military, according to news agency reports. While the ruling party Tehreek-e-Insaf [PTI] has dismissed allegations of a systematic campaign against the opposition lawmakers,  Pakistan's Opposition leader Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday openly condemned Imran Khan-led government of “silencing dissenting voices” and applying tactics to "fix" media, ahead of the country’s 2023 polls, ANI reports. 

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president accused the incumbent government of pre-poll rigging to manipulate the election results, according to Pakistan’s leading newspaper Dawn. She also reportedly threatened the Imran Khan government, warning, that they were “not living in 2017” anymore. Maryam spoke with the reporters outside the court where she attended the hearing related to her conviction appeals in the Avenfield Apartment case. She launched a scathing attack on Pakistan’s Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government, saying that the party has wreaked havoc within the country and has “played” with the future of its citizens during its three years of tenure, as she accused Pakistan’s PM of “influencing” the votes. 

Maryam also lambasted the federal cabinet for passing the draconian ‘Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA)’ bill. The legislation seeks heavy regulation of the country’s media giving the ruling government powers to shut down any channel, although the ruling party lawmakers argued that there’s no provision for criminal liability in the proposed law. Video footage of Pakistan's Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry seated with digital broadcasters, including YouTubers, emerged earlier this month wherein he warned that if the controversial law s passed, the declaration of at least 50 percent of the newspapers in Pakistan would be scrapped. 

"The country has never witnessed such devastation in the last 73 years; people have never experienced such an incompetent, inefficient and insensitive government since 1947," Maryam was quoted as saying by ANI. Furthermore, she called on the political forces to reconcile and push back the country on the right track. “Ruling PTI government should be excluded from the reconciliation process,” she added. 

PML-N vice president: 'Illegitimate' gov't meted out 'brutality' against Nawaz Sharif 

PML-N vice president, lambasting the ruling government, said that her party PML-N denounces the PMDA bill and will readily oppose any efforts to curb the free media and expression within the country, Dawn reported. She also blasted Khan for resorting to censorship. The latter also condemned the Prime Minister for subjecting ex-leader Nawaz Sharif to “ruthless” accountability for the last three years, adding that there was “every kind of brutality meted out by the illegitimate government” that had confined Sharif behind the bars.