Sunni Ittehad Council issues fatwa against Geo

Move prompted by ‘blasphemous content’ aired by the network; Pemra issues show cause notice to Geo.

ISLAMABAD:

Scholars banded together in the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) issued on Thursday a fatwa (religious decree) against Geo TV for disrespecting religious and cultural values.

The fatwa was prompted by an episode of the Geo Entertainment morning show ‘Utho Jago Pakistan’ aired a day earlier, which contained blasphemous content. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) also issued a show cause notice to Geo TV on Thursday over the same issue.

While passing the decree, SIC scholars said that after targeting the country’s security institutions in a smear campaign, Geo TV had now started harming Islamic principles. This, they said, is the agenda of anti-Pakistan forces.

In the episode of the morning show in question, the host and the guests carried out untoward activities while a sacred hymn was being read out, the scholars said. The indecent attitude of the host and guests was totally inappropriate, they added.

Showing disrespect to holy figures is strictly forbidden, said the scholars. In this instance, they said, not even a hint of respect was shown towards them by the host and guests. This act of Geo TV has hurt the religious sentiments of millions of Muslims worldwide, the scholars added.

The SIC scholars said they and other citizens expected the media to nurture religious and ethical values instead of spreading vulgarity in the name of entertainment. They also pointed out it was the duty of the government to prevent such content from being broadcast.

Participating in programmes where religious personalities are disrespected is strictly forbidden, the scholars said. If the government fails to stop such programmes from being aired, it becomes the duty of citizens to boycott them, they added.

The scholars said Geo TV cannot be forgiven for its ‘indecent, inappropriate, anti-Pakistan’ behaviour and demanded that the network’s owners, administration and management be tried immediately for blasphemy.

The religious scholars who issued the fatwa against Geo TV included Sheikhul Hadees Allama, Muhammad Sharif Rizvi, Mufti Muhammad Saeed Rizvi, Mufti Muhammad Akbar Rizvi, Allama Hamid and Sarfaraz Qadri, among others.

PEMRA issues show cause notice

While the country’s broadcast media watchdog issued on Thursday a fresh show cause notice to Geo TV network for airing ‘blasphemous’ content, it still has not taken any decision on the defence ministry’s complaint against Geo TV.

“Taking immediate cognisance of controversial content aired in Geo Entertainment Channel’s morning show ‘Utho Jago Pakistan’, hosted by Shaista Lodhi, on May 14, 2014, [Pemra] has served a show cause notice to the channel and has called for an immediate explanation,” a communiqué issued by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) stated.

According to the communique, Pemra served the notice after the content aired on the morning show was found to violate clauses (a), (i) & (p) of the Pemra Code of Conduct. The clauses state that no programme which “passes derogatory remarks or uses contemptuous language or visuals about any religion, sect or community, promotes communal and sectarian attitudes or disharmony, is against basic cultural values, morality and good manners, or  contains material which is against ideology of Pakistan or Islamic values,” will be allowed to be broadcast.

The release added that Pemra received more than 5,000 public complaints against the programme through its complaints call centre and website.

Talking to The Express Tribune, an official privy to developments said Pemra received complaints against the airing of blasphemous content in all of its four provincial headquarters. He said the authority has moved the complaints received against Geo TV to its Council of Complaints with instructions to submit a report on the matter within a week’s time.

Earlier on Thursday, Pemra postponed a meeting scheduled for the hearing of the defence ministry’s complaint against Geo TV for its smear campaign against Inter-Services Intelligence and the spy agency’s chief.

In the last hearing on the matter, the media watchdog referred the defence ministry’s complaint to the law ministry and sought the latter’s legal opinion on the issue. The law ministry has yet to respond to Pemra.


Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2014.