KARACHI: Pakistani journalists vowed on Friday to resist the interior ministry’s move to cancel the no-objection certificate (NOC) of one of the country’s leading TV channels, ARY News, which was taken off air earlier this week.
ARY News was taken off air in several cities of Pakistan on Monday night after former prime minister Imran Khan’s top aide, Dr. Shehbaz Gill said military personnel should not follow the commands of their top officials if they were “against the sentiments of the masses.” Pakistan’s media regulator said Gill’s comments amounted to inciting mutiny within the army.
Gill was arrested on Tuesday for his comments on charges of inciting a revolt within the Pakistani armed forces. The channel’s news head, Ammad Yousaf, was also picked up from his Karachi residence earlier this week. He was released on Thursday on the directives of a court in Karachi.
The Ministry of Interior said on Friday it had cancelled “with immediate effect and until further orders,” an NOC in favor of M/S ARY Communications (ptv.) limited – ARY News – on the basis of “adverse reports from agencies.”
After the notification, journalist groups said they would resist the move.
“Even the martial regime didn’t resort to such oppressive measures. The cancelation of NOC to ARY is unprecedented thing, which if not taken back will leave far reaching negative impact over the media in Pakistan,” Fazil Jamili, president of the Karachi Press Club, told Arab News.
He said journalists had earlier opposed the previous government’s measures aimed at gagging media and will not allow the present government to do the same.
“We have a clear-cut stance and a very clear message for the government that it should refrain from taking actions to curtail the media and curb freedom of speech,” he said.
Karachi Union of Journalists -Dastoor (KUJ-D) secretary general Moosa Kaleem said shutting a TV channel was tantamount to putting an end to independent media in the country.
“The government should immediately take back notification and if it went ahead to close the channel, journalists would resist the move strongly,” Kaleem told Arab News.
He added that the government had the right to regulate media but not to close it down.
“If a politician has said something (that raises) objections, PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) can assess the role of the TV channel and can make mechanism for not airing anything which is unlawful in future,” he said. “But taking back NOC tells that the intention of government to attack the channel under excuse of a remark by a politician.”
ARY News owner Salman Iqbal told Arab News the channel’s NOC had been revoked suddenly and unilaterally.
“The government’s oppressive action will render my 4,000 employees jobless, depriving more than 35,000 people of their livelihood,” he said.
“What crime have we committed? We are being punished for a statement by a politician which we have already disowned. But such stern action after a clarification shows that the government has made its mind to silence a critical voice.”