NINE MONTHS after Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), the country’s powerful media watchdog, clamped down on airing of Indian television serials in the aftermath of the Uri attack last September and the subsequent surgical strikes by India, the Lahore High Court lifted the ban on Tuesday. The court, according to a report on news site Dawn, declared the ban as “null and void” since the Pakistan government had no objection to the screening of these tele-serials. According to the report, Chief Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that Indian content with objectionable or anti-Pakistan content can be censored but there is no need for a complete ban. “The world has become a global village,” Justice Shah said, and asked how long unreasonable restrictions will be imposed. PEMRA had issued a notification imposing a ban on all Indian content on October 19, 2016, as relations between Pakistan and India soured. Leo Communications, TV channel Filmazia’s parent organisation, had moved court, seeking to overturn the ban as it had not been imposed by the government. It challenged PEMRA’s circular as being “beyond the powers of the regulatory body and the Constitution”. The petitioner’s counsel, Asma Jehangir, one of Pakistan’s top human rights lawyers and an advocate of the dialogue process between the neighbours, argued in court that a ban on Indian teleplays appeared “bizarre” when Indian films were openly screened across the country. The ban on screening Indian films was lifted in February. PEMRA’s counsel claimed that the ban had been imposed since India had imposed similar restrictions on all Pakistani content. But Chief Justice Shah asked why was PEMRA making airing of Indian content an issue when the Pakistan government had no objections.
