KARACHI: Khwaja Shahabuddin declared in the Pakistan Parliament yesterday [Jan 4] that it was the avowed policy of the Govern­ment of Pakistan to give “every freedom” to “every citizen”. There was hardly any other State in the world of today where “people enjoyed greater civil liberties” he claimed.

The declaration was contained in the Minister of Interior’s reply to the Opposition demand for the “right of fair criticism” made in the form of a resolution asking the Government to issue a circular that criticism of a Ministry or a Government should not be construed as an act of disloyalty to the State. The resolution was voted out.

Mr Shahabuddin characterised the resolution as “mischievous in its implications” in so far as it presumed that the criticism of the Ministries was being misconstrued as criticism of the State.

“Facts belie the implication,” he said.

He challenged the Opposition to cite a single example where any citizen of Pakistan was punished for treason or disloyalty for criticising a Government, a Ministry or individual Ministers. On the contrary the Government “invited” healthy criticism. …

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2025