Women were paid 3-5 thousand rupees per day in TUQ’s Long March

Famous TV anchor and journalist Hamid Mir says that women who participated in Tahir-Ul-Qadri’s long march were paid 3-5 thousand rupees per day.

Speaking on the role of Media in Tahir-Ul-Qadri’s sit-in protest, Hamid Mir, Talat Hussain and Kashif Abbasi were part of Aaj Tv’s show BottomLine this Sunday evening.

The show was based on the aftermath of Tahir Ul Qadri’s long march and sit-in protest in Islamabad.

During the show, Hamid Mir said that there were many important issues going on in the country while Tahir-Ul-Qadri was staging a protest, but Media ignored those issues.

For example, the indiscriminate killing of 11 people in Peshawar and the Quetta blasts targeting Shiite/Hazara community. These issues were virtually ignored by all media channels.

He said, “The absence of Media Ethics was exposed during TuQ’s Long March. Our Media has no ethics!”

“One man makes a 4 hour long speech and media channels show each and every second of that speech; despite the fact that he is repeating everything he has already said”, he added.

Hamid Mir also revealed that female reporters from various Media channels were mishandled and abused to limits that cannot be revealed on national television. Three of his own female colleagues were abused and one even had to hide in a DSNG van.

When asked, why were these issues ignored and not reported on the media? Was it because Media was paid too much for advertisements?

“You’re right! Money was a major factor, Tahir-ul-Qadri handed out money like Rehwris (free candy) to make his Long March look like a success”, he replied.

Hamid Mir said that majority of the supporters of this Long March are already known for their pro-dictatorship mind-set.

“I had the opportunity to ask women and children myself and discovered, that most of them were being paid around three to five thousand rupees per day,” he added.