Cancellation of ARY NEWS NOC: Journalists, politicians protest at KPC

KARACHI: A large number of journalists, political leaders and people from all walks of life staged a protest at Karachi Press Club on Saturday against the cancellation of an NOC issued to ARY NEWS by the interior ministry.

The participants demanded the federal government to immediately withdraw the notification for the cancellation of the NOC to the most-viewed media channel in the country and asked the authorities to refrain from handcuffing the media industry that has created job opportunities for thousands in the country.

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PTI leader and former governor Sindh Imran Ismail attended the protest demo along with the party leaders and said that the channel was facing wrath of the government for standing with the truth.

“They are trying to cancel the license of ARY NEWS,” he said and warned that such attempts will not be limited to ARY NEWS and it is high time for the journalist fraternity to stand with the channel.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Ministry of Interior on Friday cancelled the NOC of ARY News on Friday without serving any notice.

The coalition government led by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has taken one more step toward the economic murder of the journalist fraternity by cancelling the NOC of ARY News without issuing any show-cause notice.

The cancellation of NOC will be meant by the economic murder of more than 4,000 media workers associated with the news channel.

The move came after airing the controversial statement delivered by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and Imran Khan’s Chief of Staff Dr Shahbaz Gill on ARY News.

The channel had also issued a clarification that Gill’s statement was his personal opinion and had nothing to do this the channel’s policy.

The channel’s administration condemned the suspension of its transmissions, saying the network is being victimised by the federal government.

Legal experts termed the government’s move as the ‘economic murder’ of the journalists’ families without giving the reasons behind the cancellation of the NOC.