Indian TV channels have gone off air in Pakistan following a government directive asking cable operators to shut the networks to counter cultural invasion and anti-Pakistan propaganda.
The main reason for the order is to prevent cultural invasion and obscenity that pollute the minds of our people, especially the young generation, Mohammad Tahir, a senior official in the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, the countrys broadcast watchdog, told The Telegraph.
He said a directive had already been issued to all cable operators and a campaign launched to ensure compliance. The order will apply across the board. No operator will be allowed to show entertainment channels like Star Plus, Sony TV, SABTV, 9x, Star Gold, Colors, and Joo.
Tahir said the first phase of the crackdown involved sending the notices. In the second, the authorities would monitor compliance and determine punishment.
Cable operators in the cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad confirmed they had received the directive and said they were complying. We have stopped showing Indian channels after receiving the notice, Islamabad operator Mohammad Babar said. Star Plus and Sony were still being shown by his company, but they would be taken off air soon, Babar added.
He said he personally agreed that some of these channels were showing programmes to malign Pakistan. Obscenity, something repugnant to Pakistani traditions, had also increased, Babar said.
Even viewers didnt appear unhappy with the curbs. I think the decision is right because most of the Indian channels are now increasingly showing sex and violence in their movies and serials which we cannot see with our families, Faraz Haider, a student of chartered accountancy, said.
On-screen kissing scenes were common in Indian movies and serials, he said. I cant watch them with my mother, sister and kids.
Karachi schoolteacher Shahida Murad felt it would be better if Indian channels were not broadcast as long as relations between the two countries, which deteriorated after last Novembers Mumbai attack, didnt improve.
Ruling Pakistan Peoples Party legislator Fauzia Wahab, who is the partys information secretary and spokesperson, told reporters in Islamabad that obscene programmes being shown by Indian channels were a matter of concern for the government.
We have different cultures and ethos. Such programmes cast a negative impact on the minds of our people, especially the youth, she said.
The matter also echoed in the National Assembly, with members across all parties asking the government to ban the channels.
The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Frontpage | Pak ‘obscenity’ bar on Indian channels
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DAWN.COM | Entertainment | Ban on Indian films?
The moral outrage displayed in the National Assembly on Tuesday against the airing of Indian films on the countrys cable television networks can hardly be considered legitimate grounds for a Pemra ban on such movies. MNAs Bushra Rahman of the PML-Q and Maulana Fazlur Rahman of the JUI-F argued that the projection of Indian culture is causing grave concern among the public.
This claim is belied by the immense popularity of Indian films in Pakistan. Secondly, the traditions of freedom of choice and a free media demand that citizens be allowed the right to access whatever legal form of the media they desire. An arbitrary or selective ban imposed by the government amounts to censorship.
The fear underlying the outrage refers to the swamping of Pakistani culture by foreign influences. What is needed, therefore, is for the state to actively support and promote the local film, television and performing arts industries. In these fields, there is a dearth of state-supported training institutes in Pakistan. The government-run arts councils can do far more to meet their brief of promoting local cultural productions.
A case against the airing of films whether they are from India or elsewhere on local cable television networks can be made, however, in terms of economic and copyright concerns. Such broadcasts made by private cable operators and channels from DVDs are usually pirated. No royalties are paid, and the government earns neither tax nor any other form of revenue.
The broadcaster, by contrast, earns through selling advertisement slots. Given that the country has often been criticised for its failure to control piracy and enforce copyright laws, there is a need to devise codes under which foreign films can be legally aired on local television networks, and no party is denied due revenue.
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