ISLAMABAD: The transmission of ARY News has been suspended in different parts of the country on Monday.
As per details, the transmission of ARY News was taken down in parts of Pakistan following the orders of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to the cable operators.
It is really strange, we reported a story in July which we proved today for being totally accurate . Just cause we reported a true story #ARYNews gets shut down . @reportpemra #FreedomOfSpeech
— Salman Iqbal ARY (@Salman_ARY) August 8, 2022
On the orders of PEMRA, cable operators across Pakistan have started removing ARY News from their cable network. Watch ARY News Live on Youtube
— Ammad Yousaf (@AmmadYousaf) August 8, 2022
The transmission of ARY News was suspended in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Sialkot, Hyderabad, Faisalabad and other cities. The position of ARY News was also changed in different areas of Rawalpindi city.
Following the shutdown of ARY News, several Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders including Shireen Mazari, Shahbaz Gill, and others took to Twitter and condemned PEMRA’s illegal act.
This is now on my screen instead of ARY! pic.twitter.com/z30BAiXlrV
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) August 8, 2022
پی ٹی سی ایل سمارٹ ٹی وی پر اے آر وائی کی نشریات بند pic.twitter.com/hjqku2DPjh
— Dr. Shahbaz GiLL (@SHABAZGIL) August 8, 2022
‘Strategic media cell’
The suspension of ARY News transmission is a clear violation of Islamabad High Court (IHC) orders which barred PEMRA from closure and relegation of ARY News to lower numbers on TV channels sequence.
The suspension of transmission comes hours after ARY News aired a report that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has reportedly activated its strategic media cell to malign Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its chairman Imran Khan besides building a narrative to prove the rival as an anti-armed forces power.
The report aired by ARY News on June 27 regarding the activation of the ruling PML-N’s strategic media cell proved to be true. It emerged that the PML-N activated its strategic media cell to run a malicious campaign against Imran Khan and PTI to prove it was an anti-military or anti-armed forces party.
PM House behind campaign against president
It emerged today that PM House was reportedly behind the controversies and online campaign launched against President Arif Alvi regarding funeral of the Balochistan helicopter crash martyrs.
IHC DIRECTS PEMRA TO RESTORE ARY NEWS TO ITS ORIGINAL NUMBER
According to senior journalist and analyst Chaudhry Ghulam Hussain, President Dr Arif Alvi wanted to attend the funeral of the Balochistan helicopter crash martyrs, however, he was stopped by PM Office.
‘Unnecessary controversy’
Earlier, reacting to the social media criticism of him for not attending the funeral prayers of shuhda — who embraced martyrdom in the Balochistan helicopter crash, President Arif Alvi has said that the matter was being made controversial unnecessarily.
There is unnecessary controversy on why I did not attend Janaza of the Shaheeds recently. This gives me an opportunity to condemn in unequivocal terms the despicable tweets by those who are neither aware of our culture or our religion.
— Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) August 5, 2022
Taking to his personal social media account, President Arif Alvi said, “There is unnecessary controversy on why I did not attend janaza of the shaheeds recently.”
