The Supreme Court in Pakistan on Saturday reinstated a ban on Indian television content and films being broadcast on the country’s local channels, Dawn reported.
Pakistan’s top court was hearing a petition filed by the United Producers Association related to the ban. Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar ordered the broadcast of Indian shows to be “shut down” and that only “appropriate content” should be aired, Dawn reported.
“They are trying to [obstruct the construction] of our dam and we cannot even ban their channels?” Nisar said.
The Indus Waters Treaty, drawn up in September 1960 and brokered by the World Bank, lays down rules for how the water of the Indus and its tributaries that flow in India and Pakistan will be used. Pakistan has opposed India’s construction of hydroelectric power projects on Kishanganga and Ratle alleging it was in violation of the treaty.
In 2016, amid escalating tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority had imposed a ban on airing Indian content on local television and radio channels. The decision was made after the attack on an Indian Army base in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri sector in September 2016, which had soured relations between the two countries.
In 2017, the Lahore High Court, however, lifted the ban, saying the ban was null and void as the federal government had no objections to Indian content being aired in Pakistan.
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