ISLAMABAD
The suspension of Pakistan's top television channel on Tuesday has become an increasingly confused affair, with the management of the same regulator that banned it now rejecting the decision.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority meeting that chose to ban Geo TV until May 28 -- when a final decision on its license will be made -- was declared illegal because the the majority of the board were not present.
The board has 12 members and all seven government representatives were absent from the meeting, fanning speculation that the ban was economically-motivated by Geo TV's competitors.
Israr Abassai, one of the board's five private members who made the decision, claimed that the ban should stand and in practice Geo TV has been taken off air by cable operators in many parts of Pakistan.
"The decision has been taken on the basis of serious reservations concerning the Geo group, ranging from airing inciting talk shows to foreign funding," Abbasi said, after announcing the decision.
Geo has been in hot waters since April 19 when it blamed the country’s top spy agency, Inter Services intelligence, for the shooting of its journalist Hamid Mir in southern port city Karachi, sparking countrywide demonstrations in favor of ISI. Last week, Geo aired a controversial morning show, considered blasphemous by many, which unleashed another round of protests in Pakistan.
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