Media in Pak has more freedom than in Britain: Imran Khan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday made a bizarre claim that the media in his country has more freedom than that in Britain since he has assumed office, going by what they are allowed to report.

"I have spent about 18 summers of my life in England. I have seen the British media, they are very open and free. But the Pakistan media, in my opinion, is freer than the British media," Khan said in response to question on the recent reports of the crackdown on media in Pakistan.

A recent report by the Commission for Protection of Journalists (CPJ) stated that the situation of the press and media in Pakistan is now more than alarming and mfests itself in increasingly insidious and more difficult ways to fight.

Khan said that his government was not trying to censor the media but merely trying to bring it under control by strengthening media watchdogs in the country.

"I remember when media started reporting wrongly that the IMF (International Monetary Fund) had said the (Pakist) rupee would fall to some number they reported, there was a run on the rupee as a result of it. I mean who would do that. First, you are trying to fighting the biggest economic crisis in your history, and second you have media coming up with false news," Khan said at the US Institute of Peace.

The Pakistan Prime Minister further claimed that his government would go down as the most inclusive in his country's history.

"Time will prove that my government will be the most inclusive government in Pakistan ever. We have already assured full protection of our minorities. I won't go into the detail but there is one element where we still have a problem. What we have done, no government has done before," said Khan.

( With inputs from ANI )