...aka The Great Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer...
’s public speeches is an attack on the constitutional right to the freedom of expression.
Not satisfied with the ban, the authorities also disrupted the live stream of his recent address on YouTube.
Even though the former prime minister is known for slandering and threatening his political opponents, critics and journalists, censoring his words is a breach of his basic rights. Hence, the restrictions must be immediately revoked.
In an attempt to justify its decision, the electronic media regulator has accused Mr Khan of ’spreading hate speech’ and levelling baseless allegations against state institutions, police officials and an additional sessions judge for the arrest and alleged custodial torture of his chief of staff.
However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
it is clear from its order that Pemra has interpreted the Constitution’s Article 19, which guarantees the right to freedom of speech, as well as suggests the circumstances in which this right can be restricted, in a manner opposed to the spirit of the article, in order to arbitrarily censor Mr Khan’s views.
The ban is unacceptable even though the PTI itself attempted to gag a broad spectrum of mainstream and social media to silence dissent during its rule. Instead of punishing the politician, Pemra should have directed the channels to use the time-delay mechanism to block out offensive terms or simply left the matter to the courts.
The charges that have led Pemra to order TV channels to censor Mr Khan did not warrant its intervention. If he has said something unlawful, or threatened the state functionaries and judicial officers, he should be proceeded against according to the law of the land.