‘Indian TV content damages our culture’

Chief justice stops shows in what is seen as a tit-for-tat move for actions by India

PAKISTAN’S Chief Justice Saqib Nisar this week announced that the country’s Supreme Court would not allow Indian content to be shown on Pakistani TV channels as it “damages our culture”.

Nisar’s remarks came as a three-member apex court bench heard an appeal filed by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) against the high court’s decision to ban the broadcast of Indian content on TV channels in the country.

Pemra’s counsel, Zafar Iqbal Kalanauri, told the Supreme Court that foreign content was banned on court orders before a high court issued a stay.

The authority’s chairperson, Saleem Baig, said 65% of the content shown on Filmazia channel was foreign and the number at times went as high as 80%.

At this, the chief justice said: “We will not allow Indian content to be aired on (Pakistani) channels.”

On being told that Filmazia was not a news channel but an entertainment channel and that it did not do any propaganda, the chief justice countered the Pemra counsel by saying: “It is, however, damaging our culture.”

The top judge adjourned the hearing to the first week of February as the Pakistan Broadcasters’ Association’s counsel, Faisal Siddiqui, was not in attendance.

In 2016, Pemra had imposed a ban on airing Indian content on local television and FM radio channels.

The decision was largely seen as a tit-for-tat move after similar actions were taken by some channels and the entertainment industry in India against Pakistani content and artists.

In 2017, the Lahore High Court lifted the Pemra-imposed ban, declaring it null and void as the federal government had no objections regarding the content.

In October last year, the Supreme Court reinstated the ban on the transmission of Indian content on local television channels.