Top Pakistani News Channel ‘Geo TV’ forced to go off-air for criticising Army

Islamabad, April 7: Pakistan's largest television network Geo News says it has been forced off the air by cable operators in most parts of the country. The network's channel assignment on the cable distribution network has also been lowered.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority has insisted that it was not behind the move and put out a notice for cable operators not to disrupt Geo's transmissions.

In the first week of March, Geo News was shut down in cantonment areas across the country and residential neighborhoods that are administered by the military. Then, this month, all Geo channels including news, entertainment and sports channels started being blocked across the country by cable operators.

Geo officials took pains not to publicly blame the military, and the military did not respond to requests for comment about whether it was punishing the network. Nonetheless, the action against Geo is being seen as an unmistakable message from the country's generals that they would accept no negative reporting.

The action against Geo is coming at a time of increased tension between the military and the civilian government, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s political party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.