NA body accepts Geo Super’s stance, directs its uplinking from Pakistan
Tahir Khalil
ISLAMABAD: Accepting the stance of Geo with regard to the Geo Super transmission, the special subcommittee of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting has directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to immediately allow the channel’s uplinking from Pakistan to telecast sports events, sports news and sports current affairs shows.
After examining and verifying the documents, the special subcommittee accepted the stance of Geo that the transmission of Geo Super was continuing from Dubai but the channel was not being allowed uplinking from Pakistan and rejected the allegations of Pemra.
The subcommittee met at the Parliament House on Wednesday with Chaudhry Saeed Iqbal in the chair. Ms Shireen Arshad Khan and Farhat Muhammad Khan attended the meeting of the subcommittee, which was constituted on one-point agenda of examining the stances of Geo and Pemra with regard to the Geo Super transmission being on air from Dubai or Karachi.
The National Assembly and Senate Standing Committees on Information and Broadcasting are looking into the issue of the ban on transmission of Geo Super. On the pretext of “security clearance”, Pemra had refused to grant broadcast licence to Geo Super and did not issue a temporary licence as well. Pemra later did not allow the channel’s uplinking from Pakistan.
After examining and verifying the documents on Wednesday, the subcommittee of the standing committee gave the ruling in favour of Geo Super, directing Pemra to immediately allow the channel temporary uplinking. It was also decided that a delegation of the subcommittee would visit Dubai within a fortnight to inspect the Geo Super set-up. The Geo management had already offered such a visit to the committee for inspection.
During the proceedings of the meeting, the members expressed their anger against the inappropriate attitude of Pemra’s acting chairman and got the debasing remarks of the acting chairman against Geo expunged.
The chairman of the subcommittee, Chaudhry Saeed Iqbal, thanked the committee members and the concerned parliamentary officials, whose efforts would help in settling the Geo Super issue. He said bureaucracy considers politicians fools. He said the attitudes would have to be moderated and disputed issues would have to be set aside.
During the meeting, Geo representatives, Muhammad Suleiman and Jawad Goraya, offered that the committee members could be shown the Geo Super transmission from Dubai there and then through the DSNG van of Geo News.
After examining the documents, Executive Director of the Frequency Allocation Board, Colonel Iftikhar Ahmed, confirmed that the stance of Geo Super was correct and there was no ambiguity.
The chairman and members of the subcommittee said it had been proven that the Pemra allegation about the Geo Super transmission being on from Karachi and not from Dubai was wrong. They said it had been proven that Geo Super had formal set-up in Dubai, so Pemra should allow uplinking.
Shireen Arshad said it was tragic that the only sports channel of Pakistan was not being allowed transmission while channels from across the world were illegally airing details about the Abbottabad operation. The subcommittee endorsed the stance of the Geo representatives that Geo Super be given uplinking facility for two years, so that it could air sports events and other sports programmes without any hindrance.
The Geo representative said that they had deposited one-month fee in advance, so they would have shown the Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament had they been granted permission.
Chaudhry Saeed Iqbal said the committee seriously wanted to settle the Geo Super issue. He did not agree with the stance of the Pemra chairman that first programmes should be started. He said that the Jang Group was a major business group and advertisements were also necessary for programmes. He said the parliamentary committee would get its decision implemented and would ensure that none of the parties violated the parliamentary decision.
The Geo Super’s representative said that they had submitted an application for temporary uplinking on April 25 and it included details of sports events from Pakistan. He said that through a letter dated April 3, Pemra had asked Geo Super to start its transmission from Dubai and after that, temporary unlinking would be allowed. He said when it had been proven now that the Geo Super transmission from Dubai was on, the uplinking should be allowed. He said that uplinking should be allowed for two years at least, so that the channel could chalk out its future plans.
Source: The News
Date:5/12/2011
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