In a joint meeting of cable operators and TV channel-owners on Wednesday it was decided that the Supreme Court’s proceedings in a case against them with regards to obscenity, illegal Indian channels and a ban on senior journalist Ansar Abbasi from appearing in any program would be blacked out.
It was decided that even top anchors would be bound by their respective managements not to touch these issues. Almost all owners or senior executives of top Pakistani channels including ARY, Geo, and Express “bowed” to the blackmailing tactics of the cable operators and agreed to follow the decision of the Cable Operators Association. According to sources, cable operators had threatened TV channel-owners that if they did not follow the decision, their channels would be put at the end of the tuning list in distribution networks across the country.
They also demanded sacking of Ansar Abbasi, however this demand was not met. The Cable Operators Association decided to counter the Supreme Court’s recent actions against obscenity and illegal Indian channels being shown on cable networks around the country.
Cable Operator Association Chairman Khalid Arain, along with two dozen members, interacted with media owners/directors and none of the owners dared to defend the freedom of speech as they were threatened of being “taught a lesson” in case the cable operators’ businesses were hurt. The cable operators made it clear that they would not accept any demand for the closure of illegal Indian channels particularly Star Plus and Sony which brought them money. A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Tariq Parvez had taken up a petition of former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed and a letter by Justice (r) Wajhiuddin Ahmed to the chief justice on which a notice had been issued to the PEMRA chairman. The cable association members clearly told the channel owners to completely blackout the Supreme Court’s proceedings in the case, which was expected to issue a strict order against illegal Indian channels and the unchecked obscenity.