Islamabad: Javed Jabbar, a former information minister, has said that the media is not all about vulgarity but there might be 10 percent of total content objectionable but rest media in Pakistan is doing fine.
He said this in a meeting held by PEMRA to set the parameters on obscenity on Monday.
He said that the technological advancements and cultural dynamism can’t be enslaved in a rigid canvas whereas cultural ethos vary from passage of time.
Javed Jabbar, a former Informtion minister, opposed involving Council of Islamic Ideology in defining obscenity, adding it is perplexed matter and would be difficult to evolve consensus.
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Dr. Mehdi Hassan, an intellactual, said that if something is undesirable to watch, you have option to switch the channel or completely switch off your TV. It would be wrong to hamper technological advancements instead of grooming and training our offspring. We absolve our responsibility by not teaching them good or bad and then shed our responsibility by putting iron curtains on media.
The consultative meeting to deliberate upon parameters of “Obscenity” for electronic media was held today at PEMRA Headquarters Islamabad. The meeting was attended by Qazi Hussain Ahmed (Ex-Ameer Jamat-i-Islami), Senior Journalist Ansar Abbassi, Muhammad Hussain Mehanti, Ameer, Jamat-i-Islami, Karachi, Lt. Gen. (R) Abdul Qayyum, Senior Columnist Oriya Maqbool Jan, Javed Jabbar, Dr. Mehdi Hassan, Mr. Muhammad Ziauddin, Executive Editor, Express Tribune, Senior Journalist Mazhar Abbass , Mr. Kamran Khawaja (FM Radio Association) and representatives of Pakistan Advertisers Society (PAS), United Producers Association and PEMRA officials.
In the meeting, the Chairman PEMRA briefed participants about various terminologies, connotations and expression used to define obscenity in different countries.
Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Muhammad Hussain Mehanti, Lt. Gen. Retd. Qayum and Ansar Abbassi expressed that Pakistan was created in the name of Islam and its Constitution clearly envisages that there can be nothing against Quran, Sunnah and Shariah.
Qazi Hussain referred to the surahs of Quran and some explicit clauses of Indecent Advertisement Act of 1963 which interpret vulgarity.
They specifically criticized news channels for spreading vulgarity in the guise of entertainment news. They objected showing vulgar mujra, dances and songs in every headline. The re-enactment and dramatization of crimes was also severely criticized by the participants as they said that this form of disgust in the garb of investigative journalism should not be tolerated by PEMRA.
They unanimously recommended referring this matter to the Council of Islamic Ideology and Parliament to define the “Obscenity and Vulgarity”. However, they also appreciated the work done by PEMRA in this regard and demanded immediate closer of all illegal channels. Concluding to the elaboration of obscenity, they said that “Any content which is unacceptable while viewing with the family transpires obscenity”. They also recommended formulating a committee to screen out unwanted content from TV advertisements as well as regulating the rating of TV channels.
Sameena Ahmed, a TV artist and producer from United Producers Association and Aly Mustansir from Pakistan Advertisers Society said that vulgarity is relative term and can’t be invoked by a select group of people.
They were of the view that they reflect public aspirations in their programs / advertisements and a thorough research is conducted before launching any content. They denied that the advertisements and dramas produced by them contravenes to the Islamic values.
They however, agreed to comply with the code if it is unanimously accepted and adopted.
Mazhar Abbass, veteran journalist, disagreed with the hardcore and rigid opinions of censoring media by blaming it vulgar.
He suggested formulating an independent commission with no involvement of stakeholder in order to deal with the media violation issues.
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