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Alert

Cable TV banned in NWFP province

(PPF/IFEX) - The following is a PPF press release:


PESHAWAR: On 21 June 2000, Lt General (retired) Muhammad Shafiq, governor of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan, announced a ban on cable television networks while addressing a meeting of religious leaders. "I order the closure of cable television networks in the province from today," he said. Later, an official statement said, "The governor, in reply to a demand, said he would issue orders to stop functioning of TV cable system throughout the province".

According to press reports, the governor's order followed the speeches of several Ulema (clerics) who said that the networks spread obscenity and vulgarity in the NWFP province.

The case of cable television networks is already being heard in the Peshawar High Court. Earlier this month, the administration, fearing a law and order situation because of Ulema's resentment, sealed the networks of six cable operators in the Hayatabad township of Peshawar, the provincial capital.

The owners of the networks approached the Peshawar High Court and filed written petitions challenging the legality of the decision. All the cable operators were authorised and licensed by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in May 2000.

The decision would directly affect thousands of families who had obtained connections from these operators, besides the investment in cable television networks.