for power and profit plummeted and entire continent into chaos and violence. this is the journey back into the history of slavery. our documentary series slavery routes starts march 10th on g.w. . this july and also years of prime minister non-con has actually done that by focusing on you know the public's help on offer a very long time when bob is soft does nor corruption scandals in the fall put out if you have to go is there a parallel just assistant in your country in mexico month you can see the number of missing persons really busy do you think it's a 6 up to bill to intimidate the press i see no problem with the freedom of expression opposition parties in pakistan have been putting the pressure on prime minister imraan khan in a series of recent mass protests they say he's

a puppet of the military and has mismanaged the economy as inflation spiral there's also concern about the state of human rights and press freedom my guest this week from islamabad is follow why choudhary pakistani minister for science and technology what has his government achieved and who's calling the shots in pakistan . mr follow up chattery welcome to conflict zone thank you for having me it's half way through your government's charm and there is rising anger at high inflation and poor economic prospects the opposition has united they say that your prime minister imran khan that he is incapable and that he is merely a puppet of the military is he. well frankly all the positions are meant in the same line of just a non-serious argument i believe. this 2 years of prime minister non-con

has actually turned the tide for barca sun at the time when the whole world is actually struggling of the cold lead buckets on is probably the only conclude that has shown remarkable i would say that we have achieved the success that northern country could have even imagined that by this onward we have we have successfully. we have maintained economic stability. and anything that you can imagine you know the best case scenario that you can attribute to any country in the baucus on is a is for doubt and that's the word has actually acknowledged by the sun for that but mr minister i'd like to ask you because let's look at the seriousness of the argument in fact let's look at the management of the pandemic on march 22nd the prime minister told the nation that the government would not institute a sweeping lockdown less than 24 hours later the military announced that the army

would oversee a shutdown and they have been orchestrating the response ever since so who's calling the shots. that's that's actually not true the 1st focus on the going to 6 february i think by this on was was i would say among the very nations that initiated. steps to secure its borders and ports in february 2nd week we actually based all over protocols at the airports the word started of to do what he did secondly the. refereeing there was no concept of a complete block mon and pakistan and prime minister this trip guard from day one and that is the reason that in pakistan we never had complete lockdown we only had partially lock don't and actually very well managed lockdowns. military

is part of the government and we are actually the police is of the government have the full support of the army so pockets i mean prime minister called the short and pakistan army sports mr minister you know there are members former members of the military who don't agree with that assessment in fact and i just like to turn to the statements of a retired general who says the government in fact left a big gap in its handling of the coronavirus the army has tried to fill that gap there was no choice so in other words he's saying the handling of the coronavirus crisis one of one of the greatest challenges of the past decades and the civilian government could not rise to meet it who said this this is a retired general who was quoted by the financial times on april 25th 2020 but. i'm going to retire 10 rounds or less i think in the economic condition of anonymity. no this you see obviously

a sort of nicholas statement so all business any oil any retired general is just like any other citizen or baucus on we don't know his political affiliation but forget about what daughter died and want to see is the question is that what. we have we stand to be government turning of the over producers or not the fact is a buck is on is as has been appreciated by everyone on the bill would have and so it's really ruined who said what so you have to see the consequences and design policies and by those unproved success and i have to give greater to the prime minister's policies and certainly me put you supported by the son prime minister's . part of the government let's move from the coronavirus crisis to the management of pakistan's economy you asserted a little bit earlier that the economy was doing very well but you know the assessment of the world bank is that you had double digit inflation last year they also say that your economic prospects for this current year remain below potential

tens of billions of dollars right now are being invested in the major infrastructure project the china pakistan economic order or c. pak it's happening on your soil it's supposed to spur economic growth last year you installed a former military general to oversee it could you not find anyone in your civilian government to handle it. frankly ones are doing those that are tired as much a civilian as any other civilian and actually the human resource. we've found the best that. has served in the army but fact of the matter is that he is one of the most complete officers to handle this he knows pro and cons of this project he has served a long time and we would like anyone would like you know someone with hands on experience to handle such projects and that's why he was selected so secondly there as you mentioned about the economy you see we inherited. an economy that was in

shambles his son was literally at the brink of bankruptcy and we started initiating oversteps from that very moment today a pox on the economy is far better then at the time when we are actually in their mood all day by the sun's groupies dibble by the baucus on the as actually the i would say the biggest step of prime minister non-con is that he has actually germinated the industry in pakistan for it years box on exports has touched the highest by the sons of. the highest at the moment we are nor we are not putting money to stabilize their dollar but it being we are actually the money is going on and mr minister i think let's turn now to $1.00 of enron coms big promises when he came into office and that is to stamp out corruption the anti corruption

agency the national accountability appear on the an a b has arrested around a dozen politicians from the opposition since then how many have been arrested from your party why would anyone who would have been arrested from my party it was all have no iraqi an interest are in the. top if there's any you should point out who should be arrested from our party. well let me tell you what the supreme court of your country thinks about your handling and how you're approaching the anti corruption campaign and a stinging decision last year the supreme court said that the anti corruption body the national accounts ability bureau is selectively applying its laws on individuals when it detained 2 opposition politicians for 15 months without credible charge your top bar association goes one step further to say it's a tool for arm twisting of political opponents. so how can you say that the anti corruption campaign is legitimate with such

a stance on it like that. so now i would like to explain this in a bit to you know you see this whole national accountability bureau the anti corruption institution we have not the government has not appointed even. a lot of stuff in this whole organization from its german from the german of the knob to the very lowest good each and every one is appointed by the pm and then they don't know why should he or she had called on our boss either his nominee as a prime minister or them. despite the so the whole institution of the law itself was actually bossed by a pm i learned in 1000 men to salman then people's party did indeed the whole organisation is actually established by either because party or pm and then all the kids says they are charged with not not fired by us each and every case they are

facing are actually fired either by peoples party gives pm and then or pm and that is because party so it is a witch hunting all investigations of this case these cases were actually complete even before prime minister took over thirdly did is the evidence against them is not oral evidence where you will you know pick up someone and force him to a make a statement each and every key is based on extra documentary evidence for example the leader of the opposition shahbaz sharif is behind the bars and it is an evidence of 41 volumes against him with each and every money he transferred outside to money laundering has been accounted for so did is not think. it's just fashionable to sit to criticize you know the process for accountability but fact of the matter is that every pakistani citizen nor there how the pockets of every everyone nor the. look is there is. maybe you can give this impression to the

foreign media. did is a return thing but in fact the word is every progress on the mordaunt look this is our business model well it's not just the foreign media we have to say mr minister that the european commission assessment of pakistan also raised red flags that there are very few cases of ruling party ministers and politicians that have been pursued since the 29000 elections amnesty international also points out that the crackdown has actually increased since the opposition united this this past fall they have called on you to cease using the national accountability bureau to detain critics of the government where is the accountability mr minister. frankly suggesting that it is important that the people in the government should also be arrested for mood isn't is is i don't think so there's any point in doubt and this is quite an incident in modern i would say if that is any case against any good model for should they should bring before the court order even before the knob and

sure the evidence is only making a political statement does not qualify as rest of a bush i also have the she said that mr miss mr minister then let me ask you about one particular case i'd like to talk about one very exposed person who is seen as affiliated with your government that is a retired lieutenant general. we spoke about him earlier he was appointed head of the c pak authority he's been accused of not declaring his family's assets properly as you know. so this is the person who you trust to manage your major infrastructure project. but what was i think you should against him the allegation is not an illusion against him the allegation is that he didn't properly file his wife wife's assets the allegation is that he built businesses his family built businesses in multiple countries around the world worth tens of millions of dollars and the big question is you know you're trusting him to have this infrastructure

project at the very least a does it not warrant having him stand aside while you marry an investigation to avoid any appearance of impropriety that is what the opposition has called for them actually against him is. the 7 years of his brother. in the united states of america their companies their build companies enrich his wife's share about 13 or 15 percent of all the shares belonging to his wife so i'm able to understand that if this bill if this whole empire is built on corruption and they're true in the united states of america writ is the evidence to go out and if he has transferred money to united search for america from here into money laundering as you know under the new money laundering regime and the hole in the international and. he can easily be comprehended but the fact of the merit is

that a position to use such kind of propaganda or loot to malign political opponents when it comes to hard evidence really has nothing missed and i learned this case. you know the public's not buying it the public perception is that corruption in fact is on the rise under your administration according to reporting from transparency international so since they simply aren't terribly confident in these efforts that you're speaking about right now are they. actually. know now coming through transparency international actually i believe i have gone through the report of transparency international and i believe it's a very vulgar to report and. the emphasis is and the point they have raised are actually needs a careful consideration for example there is one point of. pakistan in description and that's because of the lower judicial court system in pakistan and i believe they're concerned you know that you've just this is all sort of the

revenue departments and the police department did need to get together and all this new book out that why. people have you know the kind of they don't have fear from these systems so i believe their response international board is very right on that other hand i would like to point out there is after a very long time and by this there is nor corruption scandal at the ball put out of the government did is years 5 months of this government not just single scandal for the minister this is very i would say thing in pakistan because this on the country is on there used to be a government of people's party and pm and then they didn't do and hard for him and actually all the minister would have been good for the money mr minister i'd like to move on beyond your anti corruption campaign there's allegations of human rights abuses that have been mounting there's been recent demonstrations from family members demanding answers for people forcibly have disappeared a term used for state back of the auctions is there

a parallel justice system in your country where security forces decide who is going to be taken. well frankly progress on being into a situation of for example united to search of america build this whole guantanamo bit and there was a huge debate there and this happened likewise in spain the detention period actually gone up to 70 years so there was a drastic measures taken by the by the by the european countries by the america when the menace of terrorism if you crossed all limits and that happened in pakistan as well but no melissy back in pakistan you will appreciate the biggest number of missing persons was in previous. from 2 dozen 13 to 18 but didn't do one hard for years of growth of prime minister non-con government the number has actually declined very visibly declined and i believe that in next 6

months you will see the number of missing persons will be 0 mr minister ok so you say the number of missing people will be 0 tell me because your government and this has been reported has finally decided to expedite a mek mechanism to resolve the issue but you didn't do this unprompted if you. i understand that the islamic high court ruled last month that the prime minister and his cabinet could be held responsible for these forced disappearances so why should anyone trust that action will be swift and concrete and that these families indeed will get answers. election issue of time we order we are already bringing the law through missing persons and the people in ward in the missing persons can actually be prosecuted sure we are taking all the actions balsa book and i think of the situation has improved a lot and number of missing persons as i said before has declined to a very significant this is

a pretty significant change you can anyone can actually tell you i believe that the next few months you will see this number. mr minister just like to to driver one's attention to something that you have said on the matter publicly in fact you issued a tweet this was in february where you wrote the following these mothers can protest in punjab and yet no one will shoot them after looking at their id cards but what can we do about the sorrow of those mothers whose sons are shot in baluchistan just because they are punjabi just speak about the atrocities everywhere and say you know that the color of punjab blood is red to this tweet was sharply rebuked as rubbing salt in the wounds of these individuals is this how you deal with the grievances and the questions from the citizens of your country. not thought this is just so. sweet corona depiction of the situation this is what i'm saying i'm i'm i'm i'm not denying that this is not my greed but fact of the battle is that punjabi. be youngsters really really young

boys have been killed in baluchistan by their daughter is supported by by a b a laid back by india unfortunately the punjab the mothers the. sons in baluchistan but this is the fact of the matter unfortunately india has created the situation in baluchistan the young jobbies have been killed most of the city and unfortunately the while most of these mothers are still i mean how can you hold on to describe the. describe the situational mother who is going to go in that situation where his son was actually asked to come out of the bus train there later on and if his bodyguard b.l.u. insurance really you appear to be deflecting the blame so i just like to ask you un rights groups they have been calling for action in one particular case and i'd like to draw us to it that is the trade case of just contact human rights defender

formally of amnesty international he was reportedly forcibly disappeared in 2019 or arrested by security forces under the official secrets act the u.n. says he was held incommunicado for 7 months so more than half a year he continues to be deprived of his most basic rights what does that say about the rule of law in your country and wouldn't this be a good opportunity to start with transparency and answer the un's call for an investigation. no 100 percent prime minister is very clear on that if there is any case i don't have more details of the incident that you mention and frankly i have no idea i don't know warp and the thing about disk is but in all cases prime minister has really kept a good you clearly said that there should be nor. is without a proper legal course adopted in progress on his. has a surge in baluchistan the us there is a situation unfortunately the catalyst to it is going on back by india.

that situation is obviously what he some but actually we are dealing with it mr minister let's talk about freedom of the process media censorship has reportedly been on the rise of journalists who paint the military or the governments in a negative light have faced threats human rights watts describes what it calls a climate of fear you were once a journalist former minister of information you think it's acceptable to intimidate the press. does more acceptable than in pakistan i believe media is probably one of the most free media the world going to manage and we have been focused on this nor. do the fact that all this on the media is very very powerful. actually many people believe there should be a strong defamation laws which are not here unfortunately but by those on the media . i see no problem if you say in summary expression if you say it's free event then please explain to me why respected programs including the b.b.c.'s are 2

language bullets and have pulled out of the country after what has been described as a constant interference by channels under pressure from the authorities why journalists have been. charges have been brought against them others describe campaigns of online hate to intimidate them reporters without borders has condemned the campaigns they've asked the government to do something about it so where's the action. let all men here do something that politicians feel is the most i feel is the most because you know when i would. every day i feel for the was. on almost every 2nd day on something and i go to church so most of the do not mr madison are the bottom line in the glitz lawrenceville it's online hate it's more than just online hate i mean the european commission in its assessment and assessment of pakistan says that the increasing pressure by security forces with the tacit approval of the government on those with dissenting views including the media this is what they're reporting about the situation that it comes from you ok

so 1st is that i would like to spin the online here do something that every segment of the society feels and politicians are actually the most vulnerable now coming to the. idea that you said can you please name any journalists who have been actually intimidated by the state and by the agencies is there any source of some issue that you can relate absolutely engine of 2019 t.v. screen suddenly went black during geo news interview with the former president because cable t.v. operators disconnected transmission at the military high command behest that's according to reporters without borders voice of america has also reported periodic blackouts for example. we don't i don't think there's any black oak involved is not in boats on the sea. we have about 150 times the number of journalists as they can thousands so i don't see any incident you

have been not been able to name one person who has actually been intimidated by the state agencies if there is a personal case of someone like concepts and then mr minister i would say. perhaps you will believe. a justice in the supreme court who recently said in a hearing that the media in the country is not free and of the country is being destroyed in a systemic manner perhaps you will believe that statement and perhaps you can also explain to me why your prime minister has separately cried foul and said that politicians are being targeted with live this reporting do you expect people to believe that you are really the victims here and frankly of their drugs would have lost the whole many believe the. how many. many judges have been appointed don't matter i would believe the answer would have been seem so it's actually did you should not make such

a political statement because of them come back to haunt them and it was very unprofessional of a judge to to make such statements and everyone know why he's doing that what is his background is a good is against him. obviously he has very few years there why government and others are just making a left hand of mr minister another justice on the court or great wealth and justice back here chimed in when he made that statement he said that judges should ideally avoid such comments but what can be done when the country itself is not in an ideal situation how how long can judges remain silent he said but what is what is your idea for the dancers make political statements. that's that's not for me to decide . ok thank you very much this is what the ice. political statement minister from our charity thank you so much for joining us on conflicts around.

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this is the the news live from berlin european union finally wants to step up chord a nation in the coronavirus crisis leaders to hold online talks over vaccine production travel restrictions until you know ization passports a year after the pandemic started why is there still no common approach also on the program. syria's kurds appeal for international support us islamic state returns in northeast syria they say the u.s. withdrawal has less of.