Senior journalist Matiullah Jan has expressed concerns over the level of journalism being practiced in the country while raising the question of how a journalist can conduct an interview with an abducted person.
While asking a question from the panel during the Islamabad Literary Festival, Matiullah apparently grilled anchorperson Adil Shahzeb for conducting an interview with former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Sadaqat Abbasi, who was missing but suddenly appeared on his program to condemn the May 9 incident and announce quitting politics.
He said that a journalist should leave the channel and quit journalism before bowing to that low level.
The question triggered Shahzeb, and he lost his anger over it. Then, Matiullah responded that his question was for Haris Khalil, adding that he also wanted to know, “Who selects stakeholders in literary festivals?” “Those who have weakened the roots of democracy are leading the debate on democracy,” he objected.
While responding to the question, Haris said that the level of debate has declined, and in such a condition, no one can create an island of excellence.
After Haris’s response, the mediator of the event, senior journalist Asma Sherazi, gave Shahzeb the chance to respond to Matiullah’s question.
Shahzeb answered that, despite being a senior court reporter, Matiullah has acted as a judge and concluded that Abbasi was abducted when his interview was recorded.
Shahzeb termed Matiullah an imbalanced journalist, saying Abassi got bail on October 3 and conducted his interview on October 4.
He said that he was the one who raised questions when SP Tahir Dawar was abducted and later killed in Afghanistan. He further said that he was the one who questioned the then-speaker of the national assembly, Asad Qaiser, for not issuing the production order for Ali Wazir.