Pakistan bans Indian programmes on TV and radio

Regulator's order effective from October 21 escalates cultural war arising from tensions over Kashmir.

KARACHI // Pakistan will ban all Indian content on television and radio channels from Friday, stepping up media tit-for-tat bans that followed a spike in tension over the disputed Kashmir region.

The complete ban will start on Friday at 3pm, said Muhammad Tahir, spokesman for the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority.

The ban drew immediate criticism from viewers and cable operators in Pakistan, where Indian soap operas and Bollywood films are wildly popular.

Despite being bitter foes, Pakistan and India have deep cultural similarities dating back to before their separation at the end of British colonial rule in 1947.

Tension has been high since an Indian security crackdown on protests in Indian-controlled Kashmir began in July, following the killing of a young Muslim separatist leader by security forces. Relations worsened in September, when militants attacked an army base in Kashmir and killed 18 soldiers, a raid India blamed on Pakistan.

Islamabad denied involvement, but the diplomatic fallout and New Delhi’s efforts to isolate Pakistan internationally prompted calls in India for a ban on Pakistani actors and actresses in Bollywood.

Pakistani cinemas responded by banning Bollywood films and as the rhetoric against Pakistani actors in Bollywood surged, Pakistan responded by enforcing bans on Indian channels.

The complete ban goes further than the Pakistan’s crackdown on India media announced this month, which saw some channels such as Star World and Star Sports taken down as the media regulator vowed to enforce an existing law that allows channels to air just 86 minutes of Indian content each day.

The law was often flouted by entertainment channels and cable operators airing Indian films and soap operas.

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

The removal of the Indian channels has not gone down well.

“My wife is in grief ever since the ban has come into effect,” said Saleem Ahmed, 55, an art gallery curator in Karachi.

Many women in conservative Pakistan face restrictions on how they can act or what they can wear in public, while in rural areas many women spend much of their time inside their homes.

“What entertainment do we have apart from watching Indian dramas?” asked Rubina Jan Muhammad, a 30-year-old maid.

“We cannot go out of our homes, our males family members don’t like us going out apart from for work.”

Pakistani programmes have in recent years also grown in popularity across the border, where Hindi-language speakers can understand Urdu, and vice versa.

Pakistani cable operators fear the severing of cultural ties between the neighbours will hurt profits as some viewers have already threatened to stop paying subscriptions.

“The public are yelling at us,” said Khalid Arain, chairman of the Cable Operators Association of Pakistan. “Subscribers are not concerned about the origin of content.”

Mr Arain’s association estimates there are up to 4 million direct-to-home satellite devices in Pakistani homes receiving signals directly from India.

“How can they be eliminated?” he asked.

Mr Tahir, the regiulatory authority spokesman, said the latest measure would override a 2006 decree by former president Pervez Musharraf that allowed Indian TV channels to proliferate.

Pakistan was created as a home for the subcontinent’s Muslims at the end of British colonial rule in 1947.

Though the partition was bloody, and the neighbours have fought three wars since, two of them over mostly Muslim Kashmir, their people share numerous cultural links.

* Reuters