ISLAMABAD, Dec 3: In a rare show of solidarity among business competitors, cable operators in Pakistan blocked the transmission of BBC for airing a documentary about the Taliban on November 28.

Media experts are taking the issue seriously as they view it as a new tactic of the government to impose restrictions on media through indirect routes.

“No one is authorised to issue certificates of patriotism or loyalty, and Article 19-A of the Constitution guarantees access to information,” said Adnan Rehmat, Executive Director, Intermedia, an NGO that has worked extensively on media development. “Even the government cannot do that. Previously, we have protested against such decisions to block channels and stop the publication of newspaper.”

He said such decisions are counter-productive and bring bad repute to the country.

“More people have watched the documentary on the internet than it was viewed while on-air,” Mr Rehmat said, adding that any decision to blackout a television channel lies with the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra).

“Cable operators could not have made such a decision on their own. They are only business providers and are under the Pemra's scrutiny. I suspect that Pemra backed this move of the cable operators,” he opined.

Meanwhile, on their part the local cable operators in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad said that the decision had been made by their association due to public pressure.

“Nobody forced us to block or take the BBC off air – this was our decision based on our love for the country. A significant majority of our subscribers also asked us to tell the foreign media that we as a nation stand united,” a cable operator in Rawalpindi said, but declined to give his name on the grounds that it was against the policy of their association.

When asked if blocking any channel was the right solution, a Pemra official said that it was the prerogative of cable operators to display channels as per their clientele.

“In Pakistan there are 124 valid channels with 26 foreign-based. Most local cable operators have the capacity to show a maximum of 70 channels, and can place any channel beyond this limit,” the official said.

Incidentally, the Pemra Board meeting held here on Friday remained undecided over any action in this regard.

The special committee constituted by Pemra to review the contents of the documentary aired by BBC said that the documentary was a breach of its Code of Conduct. The Special Committee consisted of officials from the monitoring, operation and legal departments of Pemra.

Sources in the authority said that the committee noted that the documentary was derogatory for Pakistan and hurled unfounded blames on the state institutions for having ties with Taliban. However, media experts said that it was strange to see Pemra issuing advisories to local channels over the airing of content which was 'unethical' or not 'reflective of Pakistani culture' but it has not taken any initiative regarding the BBC documentary.

“Pemra has not received any complaint from any quarter including the cable operators, government or the army,” explained a senior official of the authority.

Under Pemra regulations, all foreign-based channels are given landing rights through a local agent and the licence to telecast BBC in Pakistan had been obtained by M/s Orbit Communications.

An official of the BBC in the federal capital said that the channel had not received any warning or threat from any quarter including cable operators over the documentary, but he expressed concern over the cable operators' decision to cut any channel off-air at will.