Ill intent: JuD to challenge media blackout in court

The PEMRA on Monday directed broadcasters to refrain from covering dozens of banned groups, including JuD

ISLAMABAD:

Days after the top media regulatory body banned media coverage of proscribed groups, including a charity linked to the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) said on Wednesday it would challenge the blackout in court.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on Monday directed broadcasters to refrain from covering dozens of banned groups, including JuD, the alleged charitable wing of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group blamed by India for the Mumbai attacks.

Welfare organisation Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation, which is tied to the JuD, was also included on the list of organisations whose coverage was barred.

“Following PM Nawaz’s visit to the US, the government has started pressurising us [JuD] to appease the Obama administration,” a JuD spokesperson claimed. He went on to say that the group had not received any correspondence from the government regarding the ban.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2015.