By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s media regulator has asked the country’s top Islamic advisory body to determine whether the punishment already imposed on Geo News, one of the country’s largest private television broadcasters, is sufficient over a Muharram broadcast that authorities said risked offending religious sentiment, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters and officials.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) suspended Geo News’ broadcast licence for 15 days on June 28 after the channel aired a special transmission on Muharram 10, the day of Ashura, that the regulator said contained “religious visualization” capable of hurting the sentiments of viewers and disturbing public order.
In a letter dated July 1 and addressed to the chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), Pemra’s Council of Complaints (CoC) asked the constitutional advisory body to say whether the suspension, along with an apology and disciplinary steps already taken by Geo News, amounted to an adequate response, or whether further punishment was warranted.
“The CII is requested to guide whether the suspension order already passed and the public apology as well as actions so far rendered by Geo News constitute an adequate response and if not, to what extent any further action may be warranted in light of Islamic teachings and injunctions,” CoC Chairperson Lubna Zaheer wrote in the letter.
Pemra asked that the guidance be provided within seven days, by July 8.
The referral followed a meeting of the Council of Complaints in Lahore on June 30, at which Geo News’ executive director appeared along with legal representatives and asked that the suspension be lifted, according to a statement issued by Pakistan’s information ministry on Thursday and the letter.
The CII, established under the constitution to examine whether laws conform to Islamic injunctions and to advise parliament and the government on religious matters, has no binding legal authority, but its opinions typically carry considerable weight in Pakistan on questions touching religion.
The information ministry said Pemra had turned to the Council given the sensitivity of the matter and in view of Article 19 of Pakistan’s constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression and of the press, subject to restrictions that include safeguarding the “glory of Islam.”
The letter said the Council of Complaints must submit its recommendations to the Pemra Authority on whether the 15-day suspension, the apology and the measures taken by Geo News were sufficient, “or whether any further regulatory, disciplinary or penal action is warranted under the Pemra Ordinance, 2002, the Rules and Regulations framed thereunder, the Code of Conduct, 2015, and all other enabling provisions of law.”
Pemra’s original order, issued under Section 30 of the Pemra Ordinance, 2002, took effect immediately and directed that Geo News’ transmission be blocked on satellite and across all cable and distribution networks in Pakistan for the duration of the suspension. The regulator also ordered Geo News to conduct an internal inquiry into the editorial, monitoring and compliance failures that led to the broadcast and to submit its findings, along with corrective measures, to the Council of Complaints.
The broadcast in question, part of a special transmission titled “Safar-e-Ishq,” aired on June 26 to mark Ashura, one of the most solemn days in the Islamic calendar. Pemra said the programme included visual depictions it classified as religiously sensitive, and that their broadcast represented a serious regulatory breach given Pakistan’s religious and cultural context.
Geo News, in a statement issued the same day the suspension was announced, acknowledged what it called a mistake and said the disputed content depicted rituals practised by a limited number of people in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East, rather than reflecting or promoting any wider religious viewpoint.
“This content was neither produced by Geo News nor was its broadcast carried out with any intention or purpose,” the channel said, adding that it remained “firmly committed to its policy of respecting the widely accepted beliefs and sensitivities of the Muslim Ummah.”
The channel said the material had been removed as soon as it came to management’s attention and that it had acted against those responsible. “The incident was completely unintentional. This was a grave editorial error. It was neither deliberate nor reflective of Geo News’ editorial values or institutional beliefs,” it said, adding that it had identified and corrected the mistake itself.
Geo News said show-cause notices had been issued to the reporter and members of the editorial committee involved in the broadcast, and that a formal inquiry had been opened, with disciplinary action proceeding under the channel’s internal policies.
The broadcaster said on Wednesday it had since dismissed the employees responsible for producing and approving the programme and had introduced additional safeguards to its editorial review process, including the addition of an Islamic scholar to vet sensitive religious content before broadcast.
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