PEMRA silences ARY News with 15-day license suspension

According to details, PEMRA authority held a meeting on Monday with an intention to teach a lesson to ARY News, for bringing facts before the people. The meeting decided to suspend the license of ARY News for 15 days, in which the controversial PEMRA Chief, Pervez Rathore played a key role.

He voted in favor of suspending the largest unbiased news channel of Pakistan.

It is pertinent to note here that the appointment of Pervez Rathore as the Chairman of PEMRA has already been challenged in the court and he is himself a controversial person to head a key institution.

Here the question rises how can a controversial PEMRA Chief endorse such a decision against a prestigious news channel having huge following in the country, while his own appointment rests in the court of law.

Meanwhile, four members of the PEMRA authority opposed the decision saying that the license of any media entity cannot be suspended without listening to its stance on the issue.

They said that the decision is based on malafide intentions.

The members of the PEMRA authority opposing the decision, included Fariha Iftikhar, Israr Abbasi, Mian Shams and Zeba Hussain.

Moreover, senior journalists and political figures have strongly criticized the decision and labeled it victimization of a media organization for keeping the masses informed about what is actually going on in the state.