Omer Farooq Khan | Islamabad (THE TIMES OF INDIA; October 2, 2016)

Pakistan has announced a ban on the broadcast of all Indian TV channels on Saturday for showing “illegal content“.

Pakistani theatres too began pulling down Bollywood films. The government move is being criticised for depriving masses of the little entertainment they have. Pakistan's electronic media regulator or PEMRA, reacting to the Indian cinema industry barring Pakistani singers and technicians until “normalcy“ returned, said, “Strict action would be taken after October 15 if TV channels and distribution networks fail to follow the directions of the regulatory body.“

PEMRA said it had received numerous complaints on “illegal Indian content“ on satellite TV channels and distribution networks as well as through illegal Indian DTH (direct-to-home) decoders. While no prominent Pakistani artiste was in India when the ban was imposed, concerts of Shafqat Amanat Ali and Atif Aslam in India were cancelled. In response, Pakistani theatres stopped screening Amitabh Bachchan's Pink and other releases. The management of Lahore's Super Cinema announced in a Facebook post that it will stop screening Indian films.

Karachi's Nueplex cinemas stated, “To express solidarity with the Armed forces of Pakistan, the management of Nueplex cinemas has decided to stop the screening of Indian films with immediate effect.“ Nadeem Mandviwalla, owner of Atrium in Karachi, told reporters that 70% of their business comes from Bollywood and Hollywood. “If ties worsen, it's going to affect everything,“ Mandviwalla told a news daily.