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Pakistan cracks down on TV airing Indian content as tension escalates

Pakistani law only allows 86 minutes of Indian content to be aired by a channel daily, but TV channels and cable operators flout the rules.

Islamabad: Pakistan's media regulator has launched a crackdown on companies airing Indian television channels and content, officials said on Thursday, after an escalation of violence in Kashmir region between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Tension between India and Pakistan has been high since an Indian security force crackdown on protests in Kashmir began in July, following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani by security forces.

Relations worsened in September when militants killed 19 soldiers in an attack on an Indian army base. India has blamed Pakistan for the attack, but the latter has denied the accusations.

"Given the recent tensions between India and Pakistan, the public is demanding that Indian channels and sitcoms be completely banned," a spokesman for Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said on Thursday.

Pakistani law only allows 86 minutes of Indian content to be aired by a channel daily, but entertainment channels and cable operators routinely flout the rules as Indian films and soap operas are so popular.

The sale of Indian direct-to-home service is also forbidden but common in Pakistan.

The authority said in a statement dated on Tuesday, it had given its chairman the authority to revoke or suspend the license of any company that aired illegal Indian channels or Indian content "without providing show cause notice and without giving [channels] the opportunity to respond".

"After Oct. 15, action will be taken against all violators without discrimination," it said.

The announcement came a week after Pakistani cinemas owners said they had stopped screening Indian films in "solidarity" with the country's armed forces after India said it had carried out surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Pakistan has denied that any such strikes took place.

On Thursday, Indian police said soldiers shot dead three suspected militants who tried to raid an army base in the north of Indian-ruled Kashmir.

The attack came as India and Pakistan exchanged more gunfire across the de facto border in Kashmir, despite a 2003 ceasefire, setting off panic among residents in border areas.

( Source : reuters )
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