Stop giving coverage to ex-PM Imran Khan, Pakistan govt tells media houses

The government said it was making sure that the 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief's social media activities are also blocked.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan

LAHORE: The Pakistan government on Friday urged the country's media houses to refrain from publishing or broadcasting speeches, statements, tweets or pictures of former prime minister Imran Khan.

The government said it was making sure that the 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief's social media activities are also blocked.

According to a government official, both print and electronic media have been directed not to publish or broadcast Khan's speeches, statements, tweets or display his pictures.

"“We will make sure that media blackout of Imran Khan is completely enforced,”" the official said.

An informed source told PTI that the Pakistani media houses have been categorically told by the ‘powerful circles' to give no coverage to Khan.

He said Khan's media blackout was enforced from Friday.

The government order comes a day after the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) directed all satellite TV channels not to promote the perpetrators of the May 9 violence.

It also directed them to ensure that coherence and national harmony are promoted and “hate mongers, rioters, their facilitators and perpetrators” are completely blacked out from the media.

Without naming Khan, PEMRA said: “Refrain from providing airtime to those who propagate hate speech and provoke public sentiments against the federation and state institutions”.

It said the hate mongers, representing political outfits, are abusing their power against Pakistan and state institutions by instigating the public.

“All such anti-state activities were orchestrated by the politically charged-up zealots of a political party behaving largely as hate mongers to instigate political activists,” it said.

There has been a crackdown on the PTI leaders and workers after their alleged involvement in attacking army installations in the country following the arrest of Khan.

Violence erupted across Pakistan on May 9 when cricketer-turned-politician Khan was arrested from the premises of the Islamabad High Court in a corruption case.

Khan was released on bail two days later.

Over 20 military installations and government buildings including military headquarters in Rawalpindi were damaged in the unrest that ensued.

Over 100 vehicles of police and other security agencies were also set on fire in the violence that left more than 10 persons dead.

Khan has said over 25 PTI workers were killed in the violence and that law enforcement agencies arrested over 10,000 PTI workers across Pakistan.

As many as 4,000 of them are from Punjab.