Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, May 7: In a bid to restore peace in Kashmir after violent protests for over a month now, the Pakistani channels were taken off the cable networks in Kashmir after Government ordered that non-permitted TV channels should not be aired.
The cable operators in Kashmir had been airing Pakistani channels in the Valley illegally and Government felt that these are feigning the unrest and protests in Kashmir.
The Government has asked all its District Magistrates to take “urgent and necessary action” in stopping transmission of non-permitted TV channels by cable operators in the State.
These channels were taken off the air last night only soon after the order was issued. The Home Department order (No. PS/Home/ 2017-60, dated 06 May 2017) has directed the District Magistrates to ensure that urgent and necessary action is taken in accordance with the Cable TV Networks Regulation Rules and compliance report submitted to the Home Department.
“….. Transmission of non permitted TV channels by the cable operators attracts violation of Cable TV Networks Regulation Rules…..It has been reported that cable operators in the Valley have been transmitting certain TV channels which are not permitted by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting… The transmission of these channels have the potential to encourage or incite violence and create law and order disturbances in the Kashmir valley,” the order reads.
Among the 34 channels listed in the order include Peace TV Urdu and English, ARY QTV, Madni Channel, Noor TV, Hadi TV, Paigam, Hidayat, Saudi Al- Sunnah Al-Nabawiyah, Saudi-Al-Quran Al-Karim, Sehar, Karbala TV, Ahli-biat TV, Message TV, Hum TV, ARY Digital Asia, Hum Sitaray, ARY Zindagi, PTV Sports, ARY Musik, TV One, ARY Masala, ARY Zauq, A TV, Geo News, ARY News Asia, Abb Takk News, Waseb TV, 92 News, Duniya News, Samna News, Geo Tez, Express News and ARY News
These channels banned in India were illegally aired by the cable operators in Kashmir for long. The Government felt that enforcing the ban may help them in stabilizing the situation ahead of summer.
Last month, in a bid to curb use of social media to incite protests, mobilize protesters and ‘transmitting objectionable contents’, the Government had directed ISPs to block Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, QQ, We Chat, Qzone, Tumbir, Google+, Baidu, Skype, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Pinterest, Telegram, Reddit, Snapfish, You Tube (upload), Vine, Xanga, Buzznet and Flickr. However, the ban has not been completely enforced as some people are accessing banned social networking sites and instant messaging applications through Virtual Private Network (VPN) and other proxies.
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