ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Saturday ordered a ban on all Indian content on TV channels, setting aside an earlier verdict by a lower court, officials said.
Chief Justice Saqib Nisar issued the order in Karachi while hearing a case filed by producers’ associations relating to the broadcasting of foreign content on Pakistan television channels.
Pakistan newspaper Dawn reported the judge referenced clashes with India over the construction of the planned Diamer-Basha dam in the country’s north, located in territory disputed by Delhi, as justification.
An official of Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said Nisar ordered to “stop airing all Indian content on TV channels.”
The ruling covers terrestrial, satellite and cable channels.
Khalid Arain, chairman of Pakistan Cable Operators Association confirmed the verdict, but hit out against the order.
“Ban on the all the Indian content is not the solution, rather we should try to better the quality of Pakistani TV shows,” Arain told AFP.
Earlier this year, India banned performances by Pakistani artists, and some Indian stations have stopped airing Pakistani content. Indian producers have called for a comprehensive ban on Pakistani content, and Hindu extremists have threatened to attack cinemas showing films featuring Pakistani artists.
In 2017, the Lahore High court had lifted a ban on Indian TV shows which had been imposed by authorities in October 2016 amid heightened tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir region.
In a series of tit-for-tat moves in the entertainment industry, Pakistan that year suspended screening of all Indian movies until tensions calmed, while Hindu nationalists in India have threatened violence at cinemas showing films with Pakistani actors.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in full and the countries have fought two wars over the region.
Pakistan’s top court reinstates ban on Indian content on TV channels
Pakistan’s top court reinstates ban on Indian content on TV channels
- Earlier this year, India banned performances by Pakistani artists, and some Indian stations have stopped airing Pakistani content
- The Lahore High court last year had lifted a ban on Indian TV shows which had been imposed by authorities in October 2016 amid heightened tensions between the two countries
Pakistan’s Mahnoor Omer named among TIME’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026
- Omer moved a Pakistani court against the so-called ‘period tax’ in Sept. 2025 which has since sparked a national debate
- Taxes on sanitary pads in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to retail price, UNICEF says only around 12 percent women use such products
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani women’s rights activist Mahnoor Omer, who fought against taxes on menstrual products, has been named among the TIME magazine’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026.
Omer’s efforts have been recognized alongside 16 activists, artists, athletes and businesswomen in the TIME’s Women of the Year 2026 list, including Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Chloe Zhao.
Dissatisfied with the efforts to educate Pakistani girls about sexual violence, Omer founded the Noor Foundation at the age of 14 and held her own workshops with village girls about everything from climate change to menstruation, according to the TIME magazine.
Two years later, a conversation with a domestic worker about the price of pads made her realize that not everyone could afford these essentials. She moved a court against the so-called “period tax” in Sept. 2025 and the case has sparked a national debate on the subject, considered a taboo by many in Pakistan, since its first hearing late last year.
“A decade and one law degree after her interest in activism was sparked, Omer, now 25, is putting her passion and expertise to work in the name of gender equity,” TIME wrote about Omer on its website.
Taxes imposed on sanitary products in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to the retail price. UNICEF estimates just 12 percent of women in the country use commercially produced pads or tampons. The alternative, using cloth, risks health impacts including rashes and infections, and can make it impossible for girls to attend school while menstruating.
Omer’s suit, which awaits the government response, has sparked a national discussion. She says she spoke about menstruation to her father and male cousins, who thanked her for standing up for their daughters.
The 25-year-old, who is currently enrolled in a master’s degree in gender, peace, and security at the London School of Economics, sees this case as just the first of many.
“I’m not free until every woman is free,” she was quoted as saying by TIME. “I want to leave no stones unturned in terms of what I can do with the next few decades, as a lawyer for the women in my country and gender minorities in general.”
