After Pakistan's electronic media regulator PEMRA issued a show-cause notice to Geo News for airing content related to the death of legendary singer Asha Bhosle, it sparked a broader reaction about art and the shared cultural roots in the subcontinent.
Azhar Abbas, managing director of Geo News and president of the Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND), shared the news about the notice, defending his channel's editorial choices and making a case for shared culture.
“Art, like knowledge, is a shared heritage of humanity and it should not be confined by borders,” Abbas said, noting that Asha Bhosle herself admired Pakistan's legendary singer Noor Jahan and collaborated with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
The media regulator issued a notice invoking a 2018 Supreme Court of Pakistan order that banned the airing of Indian content on television, but Abbas batted for separating brittle politics from art.
“In times of war and conflict, art and artists should not become casualties. Intellectuals, musicians, and creators are often the very voices that stand against hatred and division, and the ones who bring people closer together,” he wrote.
