Veteran journalist Absar Alam has accused Pakistani news anchors of misleading the public, saying they are driven by bias and jealousy rather than facts.
In a recent vlog, Absar Alam said that “anchors in Pakistan were running propaganda”, adding that he did not know the reason behind the hatred they carried.
He also drew a parallel between Pakistani anchors and some Pakistani living in the UK, saying both spoke in the same manner. He alleged that some “Pakistanis abroad were committing fraud while marrying relatives for citizenship, doing paper marriages, collecting welfare without working and securing free housing after divorce.”
His remarks came in the context of the backlash faced by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif over comments he made on Absar Alam’s show on a private media outlet. Khawaja Asif had said that Kashmiris from Rawalakot are not real Kashmiris and that they speak Potohari, remarks that drew sharp criticism from several anchors.
Absar Alam pushed back, saying that “there was no greater Kashmiri than Khawaja Asif. He questioned why anchors had reacted so strongly to the remark, comparing it to someone telling him he was not Punjabi.”
“If someone tells me I’m not Punjabi, should I catch fire over it?” he said.
