In the wake of the Indian Air Force's (IAF) violation of the Line of Control (LoC), Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday said the Pakistan Film Exhibitors Association has "boycotted Indian content" and that no Indian movie is to "be released in Pakistan".
The information minister further said that he has "instructed Pemra (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) to act against made-in-India advertisements".
Cinema Exhibitors Association has boycotted Indian content, no Indian Movie ll be released in Pakistan. Also have instructed PEMRA to act against Made in India Advertisements. #PakistanTayarHai https://t.co/9BPo6LIsVB
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) February 26, 2019
Relations between Pakistan and India have been tense since a suicide bombing in occupied Kashmir killed over 40 Indian soldiers, with New Delhi blaming Pakistan of being complicit in the attack — a charge Islamabad has denied vehemently and from the get-go.
The tensions today soared even more after the Indian Air Force's (IAF) violation of the Line of Control (LoC) — a transgression for which Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, the director general (DG) of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), has warned New Delhi to "wait for our response".
Banning of each other's content in India and Pakistan has precedent. In 2016, Pemra had imposed a complete ban on airing Indian content on local television and FM radio channels.
The decision was largely seen as a tit-for-tat move after similar actions were taken by some channels and the entertainment industry in India against Pakistani content and artists.
In 2017, the Lahore High Court had lifted the Pemra-imposed ban, declaring it null and void as the federal government had no objections regarding the same.
The following year, the Supreme Court — while hearing a case filed by the United Producers Association pertaining to the broadcast of foreign content on Pakistani television channels — had reinstated the ban on the transmission of Indian content on local television channels, setting aside the LHC orders.
