ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting expressed concern on Monday over a growing trend among private channels to telecast Turkish soaps, expressing fears that the local mini-screen entertainment industry would go the way of its big-screen sister.

A meeting of the committee, held at the Parliament House, noted that contents of these programmes were contrary to Pakistani culture and norms.

When members of the committee criticised the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) for its failure to control the “free for all”, its chairman Abdul Jabbar said stay orders by different courts had tied their hands down.

“We are literally insulted in courts, especially in the apex court, for taking action against programmes or entertainment channels,” he said, adding: “Whenever we issue notices to these channels for airing of any immoral content, they file a contempt application against us.”

The meeting, presided over by Senator Kamil Ali Agha, was held to discuss issues relating to monitoring of foreign contents on private television channels. Dr Saeeda Iqbal, a member of the committee, raised the issue of Turkish and Spanish soaps being aired by a local channel.

“When you have stopped Indian entertainment programmes from being aired in Pakistan, why the regulator is not acting against programmes from other countries,” Senator Saeeda wondered. “Have you seen the theme and odd dressed in these programmes.”

The Pemra chairman said the regulator had taken note of the Turkish and Spanish programmes and issued notices to the channel concerned, but after a final shutdown notice was issued, the channel obtained a stay order from a court in Sindh.

“We have had stay orders against show-cause notices and warnings from Lahore and even Islamabad. How can anybody expect us to regulate the programmes in this condition,” Mr Jabbar said. “It is not limited to these programmes only; almost all local news and entertainment channels have obtained stay orders against Pemra rulings.”

Information Secretary Chaudhry Rasheed informed the meeting that the local advertising industry had suffered badly because of an open policy of sponsors and a bulk of advertisements featuring foreign models were being made abroad. “Now a similar situation can be expected for the entertainment industry,” he added.

The meeting was informed that under the law, channels were allowed 10 per cent foreign contents, which included six per cent Indian and four per cent other countries.

“But the main problem is that a number of TV channels are airing foreign programmes during prime time,” PTV Managing Director Yousuf Beg Mirza said, adding: “At the same time there is a very strict policy for PTV for airing foreign content and as a result revenues are shifting to private channels.”

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD: As a perceived waywardness of Pakistan’s electronic media came in focus in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Information and Broadcasting Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the government wanted to bring a new law, possibly to deal with questions of morality.

He did not elaborate his remark, apparently made in passing, after talking of what he called the government efforts to create a “balance” between modernity and conservatism in response to complaints by lawmakers of an allied party about foreign plays being shown on the country’s private television channels at the cost of domestic productions.

“We are trying to create a balance,” the minister said and added: “We want to bring this matter in the form of a bill.” she gave no details nor said when such a law could be introduced in parliament.

Apparently referring to a pending case about obscenity, he said the government could assist the Supreme Court in the matter.

The minister acknowledged violations of restrictions of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority by “some” of a total of 89 licensed television channels – 47 of them news channels – but said all deviations could not be traced until the planned digitalisation of the monitoring system.

Mr Kaira briefly referred also to the government’s own complaints of bias against unspecified private channels but noted there had recently been a move within the media for self-correction while a code of conduct proposed by a three-member committee headed by the Chief Election Commissioner, Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, was yet to be implemented.

The issue came up in a call-attention notice from four Muttahida Qaumi Movement members, who saw detriment to Pakistani plays and writers in telecasting foreign plays, which are sometimes dubbed from English into Urdu or Punjabi.

Mr Kaira informed the house that the existing code allowed the television channel programmes to have only up to 10 per cent of foreign content – 40 per cent of it being in English and 60 per cent Indian – and said there had been some positive response from India for telecasting Pakistani plays there.

Before being adjourned until 11am on Thursday, the house passed a government bill to provide for elimination of decimal and old coins, which are no more transacted in daily life due to their negligible worth, while the government introduced a new bill to empower the State Bank of Pakistan to impose monetary penalties on banks and exchange companies for violations of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 194

Pakistan Press Foundation