Pakistan bans airing of Imran Khan speeches, suspends TV channel
The media regulator has banned TV channels from broadcasting the speeches and press conferences of the former prime minister.
Islamabad, Pakistan Pakistan’s media regulator has banned television channels from broadcasting Imran Khan’s speeches and press conferences, accusing the former prime minister of attacking state institutions and promoting hatred.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) imposed the ban late on Sunday after Khan gave a speech in the eastern city of Lahore, where he claimed former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was behind his resignation last April.
The cricketer turned politician gave the speech after police in the capital Islamabad attempted to arrest him in a corruption case. Khan, who denies the allegations, evaded arrest.
In its notice, the PEMRA said Khan “made baseless accusations and spread hate speech through his provocative statements against state institutions and officers, which is detrimental to the maintenance of law and order and is likely to disturb public peace and tranquility”.
This was the third time that the PEMRA banned TV channels from broadcasting Khan’s statements since he lost the premiership and began holding mass rallies to demand immediate national elections.
News channel suspended
Nearly two hours after the ban, the media regulator also suspended the license of ARY News, a private news channel, to broadcast Khan’s speech in Lahore.
The PEMRA said the news channel – which is considered sympathetic to Khan – violated his order. But an ARY official dismissed the allegation.
“The PEMRA statement came after 8pm and almost all channels had excerpts of Imran Khan’s speech in their 9pm bulletins. However, the regulatory body has only suspended our license,” the ARY official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al Jazeera.
Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission condemned the regulator’s decision to ban the broadcasting of Khan’s speeches on electronic media.
“We have historically opposed measures to curb voting – whether under the previous administration or before – and we remain committed to freedom of expression, regardless of the person’s political opinion,” it said. in a statement, demanding that the ban be “immediately lifted”.
‘PEMRA is a tool’
Hammad Azhar, a politician from Khan’s Pakistani party Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said the country is “quickly falling into darkness” and that the government has been making “joint efforts” to endanger democracy.
“This [ban on Khan’s speeches] is not only unconstitutional because it goes against freedom of expression… There cannot be a general ban on speeches by politicians. Legality issues aside, it is also extremely anti-democratic in nature,” he told Al Jazeera.
“This regime is terrified of Imran Khan and his ever-rising popularity, he is now seen as a prime minister in waiting. We see police action against Khan and the party workers. There is a media uprising. We are quickly becoming a fascist state.”
Former PEMRA chief Absar Alam said implementation of the law in Pakistan is flawed and the media regulator needs to improve itself.
“PEMRA has become a tool; those who can use it often do it for their own benefit,” he told Al Jazeera.
However, Alam added that the TV channels must take responsibility for what they broadcast.
“There is so much polarization in Pakistan that one person’s virtue is another’s sin. Unfortunately, the media has reinforced this a lot and they do not follow media ethics and do not show professionalism,” he said.
Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) last year ranked Pakistan 157th out of 180 countries in its World Press Freedom Index list.