Media teach people how to protest:Kaira

Islamabad: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira Friday urged media and the religious leaders to teach people to show restraint from arsons and damages to public properties that has nothing to do with our love for Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). “Our Holy Prophet was a blessing for us and even for the enemies and
animals. Every Muslim has love for Him. But today our foes will be making mockery of us. Is this a protest to protect the reverence of that Holy Prophet?” he questioned talking to a private television channel.He questioned where the political leadership of those parties had gone who had given a strike and protest call and that why they had left their activists alone to ransack the public properties.
The Information Minister also criticized media and said they acted
irresponsibly.”Live coverage of violent protests added fuel to fire. Even media did not pay heed to our requests,” said the information minister advising media to act responsibly and teach people to show restraint.”Media should think what good they have done through this live coverage,” Kaira asked.

To a question, the minister said the security of the foreign diplomats was government’s responsibility.He said there was no room for violence in Islam and that a deliberate effort was made to sabotage government’s efforts for peaceful demonstrations.He said the government of Pakistan was the only one across the world that has protested the sacrilegious film at state level, also mentioning the condemnation by Foreign Office as well as unanimous resolution adopted by the National Assembly.

He said by declaring Friday as Yaum-e-Ishq-e-Rasool and a public
holiday, the government provided the people a chance to register their protest peacefully for reverence of the Holy Prophet.Kaira said President Asif Ali Zardari would also take up the issue at
United Nations General Assembly to make the world realize that the Muslims cannot tolerate denigration of their Holy Prophet.

He clarified that Friday’s protest was not against the government
rather it was to denounce an international behavior of hurting the religious sentiments of others.Kaira said the world would have to end double standards as if there was no permission to speak on holocaust then why the denigration of our Holy Prophet is allowed.

He reiterated that the leadership was supposed to keep the people calm as the governments usually lack machinery to handle such a huge mob. “Islamabad is a little city and so is its administration. Then how they could handle a mob in thousands coming even from outside the city,” he questioned.

Kaira pointed out that the police in Rawalpindi was not fighting back
the protestors and demanded strict punishment to those involved in violence. He also expressed grief over the death of an employee of a private television channel during the coverage of the protest in Peshawar.