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‘Lawmakers have respect too’: Fawad seeks review of laws after scuffle with anchorperson
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry brought up his conflict with anchorperson Mubashir Luqman in the National Assembly
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry brought up his conflict with anchorperson Mubashir Luqman in the National Assembly on Monday, saying there needs to be accountability in the country for people defaming lawmakers for the sake of ratings.
Chaudhry, who belongs to the ruling PTI, had on Sunday acknowledged that he came to blows with Luqman at a wedding in Lahore.
“There was a scuffle that broke out. A small fight broke out. In a fight, as usually is the case, he may have got one (slap) in, I may have hit one,” said the minister during a TV programme on Sunday evening. This was the second such incident involving the federal minister; he had slapped journalist Sami Ibrahim during a wedding in June last year.
Seemingly justifying why he had slapped Luqman, Chaudhry, without naming the anchorperson, recounted in the NA that Luqman had broadcast his programme on his Youtube channel two days ago in which “he said there are porn videos of me, a female minister and other girls”.
Chaudhry said when he inquired where these videos existed, Luqman had smilingly told him that “I don’t have them but somebody has informed me [about them].”
The minister said not only are all politicians answerable to their families, but each MNA represents 0.5 million votes. “You defame someone for the sake of likes and ratings without any accountability,” he said.
He said other institutions in the country such as the army and the judiciary have “their own arrangements” to deal with such issues, but questioned whether it was a precondition for politicians to stand in elections that their respect is available for anyone to tarnish.
The minister urged the speaker to take notice of the situation and constitute a special committee of both government and opposition members to “deliberate why implementation on laws relating to media is not taking place”.
He complained that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority or the Cybercrime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency do not take notices of such incidents when they concern politicians while the courts “move very quickly on contempt when it concerns them”.
“But the people sitting in this house and the Senate have respect too,” he said, adding that the proposed committee should analyse the gaps in laws which result in such episodes.
Speaking after Chaudhry, PML-N lawmaker Khawaja Asif said lawmakers, and not the media or any other institution, were themselves to blame for such incidents.
He said lawmakers use institutions that target politicians against each other, and rejoice when politicians are discussed in the media as a way of “settling scores”.
The PML-N leader said although Chaudhry’s grievance was genuine, “no party including the PTI has been spared by [Chaudhry’s] tongue in the past 13-14 years”.
“He is reaping the bitter harvest which he sowed,” Asif alleged, saying people will continue to defame lawmakers until they start respecting each other and the house.
He said Chaudhry himself has remained a TV anchor and the record of his shows should be retrieved to see “what he has been doing with people”.
“The echo of one’s voice returns,” the PML-N leader said, adding that the things Chaudhry used to say about others are now coming to “haunt” him.
