Former Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) Chairman Absar Alam has said that he faced severe pressure and threats while doing his job, reporting to the public, for which he was getting paid through public money.
While speaking at a program “Khabar Say Aagay” on Naya Daur TV, Absar Alam recalled his tenure as Pemra chairman and said that this was the era of the Bajwa doctrine when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was being propped up, and whoever stood in the way was either silenced or sidelined.
He revealed that the serving majors who threatened him on the phone were promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonels after he complained against them.
“The Lahore High Court did not hear my appeal against the verdict of my removal from the PEMRA chairmanship. I subsequently moved to the apex court, where the appeal was taken up five years after LHC’s decision and was dismissed on the first hearing. "It has been six years since, and I remain unemployed,” he lamented.
The former Pemra chairman said, “Advocate Munir Ahmed, who filed a petition against me, is quite influential. He is a tout for the agencies and provides services to them in various courts.” “In one decision, the apex court wrote that Munir Ahmed is a suspicious character,” he added.
“My purpose is not to penalize someone or send them to jail to satisfy my ego. Instead, it is in the public interest. It is important for me that the few who harmed the country should admit their role and apologize to the nation,” he stressed.
He said that when he left Pemra, FIRs were pending against him in more than twenty-six cities, adding that when all of them proved to be infructuous, an attempt was made to assassinate him. “Forget about giving me a job; it was forbidden to take my name on TV,” he mentioned.