Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court (PHC) Mr. Justice Dost Muhammad Khan has said that FM Radio has assumed a significant role to guide, educate and emanate information of public importance to the masses especially to the vulnerable segment of the society.
He said this while addressing an august gathering after formally launching broadcast of the Radio Meezan FM 96.6 being the first ever radio channel for legal awareness. FM Radio Meezan, a project of Judicial Academy has been established within the precinct of the academy.
The Chief Justice, who is also Chairman of Judicial Academy, expressed the confidence that Radio Meezan will become effective model for legal and social awareness and will be helpful in creating a society based on justice.
FM Radio has been more effective in recent times for the reason that it is easily accessible to a variety of people at different places, most notably in the rural area where other modes of communication like newspapers, television and the internet may not be easily accessible.
The FM Radio channel would provide a forum to the weaker and down trodden segment of the society where they could discuss their legal and social issues and to seek legal advice and also to impart distant learning to all those related to justice sector. He termed the launching of the FM broadcast a great achievement as its delivery of service would have manifold effects on the society.
The CJ said that importance of the media in today’s era is a very hard fact and could not be denied. Media played a very vital role not only in the movement for restoration of judiciary but it also played key role in the restoration of democracy.
He recalled that in 2007 a man from Malakand Division starts with FM Radio with a frequency of 12 kilometers and changed the mindset of the people of the area that brought devastating effects in the region. Now this channel Radio Meezan if used in proper way, it would bring revolutionary changes in the society.
The mandate of the Radio Meezan is manifold but the ultimate objective is to revitalize all organs of the society and make them able to contribute in making the country. It will be a non political channel which will work within its mandate, he concluded.
Addressing the gathering, Director General Judicial Academy Hayat Ali Shah said that the judicial academy has a legal mandate to raise public awareness about justice services. The FM Radio Meezan will serve various purposes first it will create awareness about legal and human rights and the way how to enforce such rights. Secondly it will impart education through distant learning.
He said that it will work as a forum for eliciting feedback from those using justice services. It will facilitate information sharing pertaining to the best practices of the justice sector departments.
The listeners of FM Radio may use it as a forum for communicating their grievances against justice sector departments. The audiences would have the opportunity to seek legal advice on their dispute from the top legal experts, he added.
Station Director Radio Meezan and Director Research and Publication Judicial Academy Muhammad Amir Nazir while highlighting and aims and objectives of the radio said that this is the first-ever radio channel of the sub continent meant for legal awareness which will serve to create and maintain a society based on justice and supremacy of law so that a sense of social harmony prevails.
Radio Meezan will strive for promoting national integrity and safeguarding public interest as well as to encourage the law abiding citizens. Similarly it will also advance and highlight the judicial as well as non judicial activities of the courts in the province.
News bulletins in Pashto, Urdu and English of maximum five minutes duration would be broadcast from the radio channel besides arranging news reports, news packages, discussion, lecture forum, and live presentation.