Receiving threatening phone calls: PEMRA chief
PEMRA chief has urged PM, COAS, CJP to take notice
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Chairman of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Absar Alam has said on Monday that he and his staffers are receiving threatening telephone calls.
In a press conference in the federal capital, the PEMRA chief said that it is difficult to perform duties in the present conditions. He has urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief Justice of Pakistan, Saqib Nisar and Chief of the Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa to take notice of the issue.
PEMRA chief’s claims have come in days after license of the Bol Television Network was suspended and the authorities concerned were ordered to take the channel off air.
He demanded the government and institutions concerned to provide the regulators with security whilst they carry out actions against violators of the law.
Alam laid out that he paid Rs 82 lac worth of income tax last year and slammed all the accusations leveled against him over undeserved wage, working for an NGO among others.
That Non-government Organisation is carrying out operations here in Pakistan after a security clearance granted by Ministry of the Interior, he added. He claimed that the PEMRA administration at the time is attempting build a department and to take it forward.
Alam cleared that the regulatory body would not be able to work as required by the law if faced with stay orders all the time. He said that everytime the regulators take action against illegal broadcast, be it out of obscenity or sedition, the violators are granted a stay order by a court.
The PEMRA chief announced to take the issue at hand to Supreme Court. An audio clip of a threatening call was played during the press conference for the media personnel present.
