Srinagar: After suspending the downloading or uploading of content from all internet portals with regard to video, message, comments and excerpts of the blasphemous video titled ‘Innocence of Muslims’, the government Friday ordered to stop airing of Pakistani based television channels in the Valley.
The Kashmir-based cable operators said that they have stopped airing Pakistani channels from Friday on the directions of district magistrate Srinagar.
Cable operators said they received an order copy from district magistrate ordering them to suspend airing of several Pakistani channels including Dawn, Geo, Paigam TV and ARY channels in the valley. The move, according to observers is seen as fallout of the public unrest over the US made anti-Islam video.
Officials at a local cable channel told the Kashmir Observer that a senior police official along with his sleuths visited their Srinagar office Friday afternoon asking them to immediately stop airing Pakistan-based news channels.
We were told that the airing of Pakistan based news channels especially news channels should be stopped immediately. They (police) said the order has come from higher authorities, a senior cable operator, wishing anonymity told Kashmir Observer.
Meanwhile the officials at Take One were also asked to stop airing news channels like Aljazeera including ARY.
Deputy Superintendent of Police, Budgam, Aijaz Malik said the orders were already served to the cable operators by district magistrate Srinagar.
All the attempts to reach to the deputy commissioner, Srinagar, Baseer Ahmad Khan didnt materialize.
It may be recalled, earlier an order issued by the Home Department was served, saying that in exercise of the powers conferred U/S 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act 1885, the government of Jammu and Kashmir, in the interest of public safety and for maintaining public order, hereby directs that all licensed Telecom Service Providers and Internet Service Providers shall make arrangements to ensure that their subscribers, customers and clients in the state of Jammu and Kashmir should not be able to download or upload the contents with regard to film, message, comments, excerpts of the video.
Pertinently, authorities earlier had banned airing of Iran based news channel Press TV after it reported news of Quran desecration in America in September 2010 which leads to violent protests in northern pockets of the valley here.
In 2008 mass uprising, the authorities had ordered Cable operators to stop airing Pakistani television channels, calming they were being broadcast without permission. Cable operators, who had relayed PTV , Geo and Aaj were asked to stop airing these channels which require permission from Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
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