TV blackout was necessary to prevent large-scale unrest, says minister

We were forced to take this step, says Minister of State for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb

ISLAMABAD: The decision to block transmissions of private TV channels was a difficult one, but was taken to prevent unrest in the country, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb told a National Assembly panel on Wednesday.

The ministry’s action, she said, was imperative and if needed, members of the committee could be briefed in-camera.

She was briefing the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information, Broadcasting, National History and Literary Heritage which met here under Pir Muhammad Aslam Bodla.



On November 25, hours after security forces launched a crackdown on protesters in Faizabad, Pemra shut down transmissions of all private news channels, accusing them of violating media regulations by airing operation’s live coverage

TV transmissions were later restored after 28 hours, but this government move was condemned by the journalist community.

She explained that while considering the gravity of the situation, she and several other senior officials of the ministry of information and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) requested owners of media outlets to avoid telecasting live coverage of this operation.

“An advisory was also issued to private news channels but they did not pay any heed to our request. We were forced to take this step,” said Aurangzeb.

She clarified that this action was taken in the national interest and no other motives were behind this move.“This government fully believes in freedom of speech and expression,” she said.



The committee also deliberated upon the installation of new TV boosters by PTV and inquired about the delay in the completion of projects.

The committee was briefed that contractors were behind the delays. Later, the committee suggested launching an inquiry against persons responsible for the delays.

The committee also considered “The Redistributive Land Reforms Bill, 2017” moved by MNA SA Iqbal Quadri, and agreed that the subject matter did not relate to the committee, deferring the bill until its next meeting.