WEB DESK: Hamza Ali Abbasi has been known to raise his voice on matters that are in need of grave attention. Speaking his mind and then getting banned the next moment by authorities is a territory, Abbasi is too familiar with.
Now, Abbasi has been asked to apologize as he raised the matter of child abduction in Lahore and other areas of Punjab. The Government of Punjab has asked Abbasi to issue a formal apology for the misguided numbers of the abductions and creating an unnecessary chaos.
To which, the actor cum politician cum activist has clearly declined. Instead of a lawyer to do all the all the work, Abbasi took matters in his own hands and gave a reply to the authorities using the very same platform which became the cause of his problems.
In his letter he emphasizes that Pakistan is a democratic nation and highlighted how flawlessly "Panama Leaks" was disregarded, but his posting without verification is being treated as a severe cyber crime. He further states that if his figures were incorrect then a democratic government should've clarified it instead of issuing notice to a common man.
"The last time I checked, there was Democracy in Pakistan, and in a Democracy a Govt does not send notices to individuals accusing them of getting the facts wrong and asking for apology by threat of legal action," Abbasi's letter states.
While giving a suggestion to the authorities, he says, "I would suggest that you ask your team to kindly write “children abducted in Punjab†on a search engine called “Google†which is available for public use. You will come across various sources, including multiple Tweets tweeted on 2nd August of an esteemed Punjab Govt MPA Hina Butt, later tweets of Asifa Zardari on 7th and 8th Aug and various (pre and post 3rd Aug) articles of credible newspapers which give the number of “Abducted†children from 250, 600, 750 and even 913."
Abbasi also accepted that yes, the figure (900 children kidnapped) might be incorrect during a current affairs show on TV, but he was only quoting what he had read.
"Does the government want me to take an average of all the figures quoted on media and then share that figure?" Abbasi asked Hamid Mir during a talk show where they were discussing the said issue.
Here is his full letter:
