PTI approaches Pemra against TV channels for reporting Imran’s ‘marriage’

ISLAMABAD: Outraged by what it alleged defamatory media campaign against its Chairman Imran Khan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Wednesday, in a (complaint) letter, urged the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to take action against the TV channels.

In the letter addressed to Pemra Chairman Absar Alam, the PTI media cell called for action against the TV channels that had tried to show that Imran married third time. “A delegation of the PTI, headed by Iftikhar Durrani, met Pemra Chairman Absar Alam at Pemra Headquarters, Islamabad and handed over a formal complaint,” a Pemra statement said.

“Unethical of media to spread false news of my marriage based upon absolute lies,” said the PTI chief in tweets. Imran said the channels showed pictures of women whom he had never known or met. “Had that happened in the UK, heads would have rolled,” he remarked.

The PTI chairman charged that such disinformation was irresponsible and showed a moral and ethical collapse. The PTI's media cell referred to the reporting as ‘contrary to the local traditions, general morality and journalistic ethics’.

The letter noted that the campaign was well-thought-out “to smear chairman PTI at the time when he is in England to visit his sons”. The letter said that rebuttals on the matter had already been issued by PTI's central information secretary, which were ignored by the channels.

It criticised Pemra for being a ‘silent spectator to the hostility’ carried out against Imran Khan. A day earlier, news channels, quoting unconfirmed reports, stated Imran married a woman, a few days ago in London. Some channels and media showed image of a female as well.

Pemra has referred the PTI complaint to the Council of Complaints, which will take it up for deliberations on July 15. In recent months, the authority has moved quickly against complaints received by individuals, groups and media houses. It not only imposed fines but also slapped ban on some media content and shows as well.