Cable operators give govt 72-hour ultimatum

LAHORE: The Cable Operators Association of Pakistan (COAP) has given the government a 72-hour ultimatum for the release of its provincial general secretary, Chaudhry Tahir Javed.

Addressing a news conference on Sunday, COAP President Khaid Arain warned that the Association would approach the court and might even consider closing down the cable services if Javed was not released.

Criticising the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), Arain said cable operators were being treated like criminals. They are being harassed by police and Pemra and threatened with dire consequences.

Arain said that he was with Javed when he was arrested.  “We were in a local hotel when a DSP of the Crime Investigations Department (CID) – accompanied by 50-60 policemen in four to five vans – encircled the hotel and started a search operation which lasted for over two hours. Later they raided the room where Javed was boarding and arrested him as if he were a

Arain said cable operators had decided to block a channel in view of public sentiments after it aired a controversial morning show. However, Pemra’s regional general manager (RGM) in Multan and his team had been pressurising Javed to unblock the channel.

“Javed had asked them to ensure the security of cable operators. However, the RGM started threatening him and later issued a circular banning his entry in his office,” he said, adding that the circular declared null and void by a local court.

He said Perma on Saturday lodged an FIR against Javed, in which the RGM alleged that Javed had interfered in the public affairs and threatened Pemra’s team. “These allegations are baseless and fabricated,” he added.

He said Javed was arrested to please Geo TV’s owner and it was an attempt to intimidate the cable operators across the country. He claimed that when the association contacted the RGM, he said he had been instructed by Pemra chief Pervaiz Rathore to make an example of Javed, so that no cable operator would ever disobey their wishes.

“The cable operators are also being targeted as they had demanded a written order from Pemra, when it imposed a ban on ARY TV,” he added.

He asked if it was a crime under Pemra rules to ask for a written order. He said Pemra also wanted to lay its hand on other channels and the government could later target any other channel through the authority.

“It appears that Pemra has been turned into a sister concern of the police,” he said, adding that the appointment of former capital city police officer (CCPO) Pervaiz Rathore as acting chief of Pemra testified to this fact.

He called on all media houses and the Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) to redeem Pemra from the clutches of a police-like administration.

“I also appeal to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid to withdraw the fabricated FIR against Tahir Javed and order his immediate release,” he added.

Pakistan Federal Union of Journalist President Rana Azeem also expressed solidarity with the COAP and announced to stage a protest outside the Pemra office in Islamabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2014.