Pakistan's media regulator, PEMRA, issued a show-cause notice to Geo News for airing a tribute to Indian singer Asha Bhosle, who died on Sunday, its managing director said on Monday.
The veteran singer passed away at the age of 92, leaving behind a legacy of food and music that spread far outside India.
Azhar Abbas, the managing director of Geo News and president of the Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND) in Pakistan, shared the news of the show-cause notice issued against his platform on Monday.
"In times of war and conflict, art and artists should not become casualties," he wrote in a now-viral post calling out the PEMRA decision.
PEMRA has issued a show-cause notice to Geo News for airing content related to the legendary subcontinent singer Asha Bhosle.
— Azhar Abbas (@AzharAbbas3) April 13, 2026
It has always been customary to revisit and celebrate the work of iconic artists when reporting on them. In fact, for an artist of Asha Bhosle’s stature,… pic.twitter.com/AuhFPyGZCL
He argued that it was a normal practice to pay tributes to famed singers while reporting on them, and questioned PEMRA's decision to flag the tribute.
"In fact, for an artist of Asha Bhosle’s stature, we should have shared even more of her timeless and memorable songs than we did," Abbas wrote, praising the veteran singer.
He also pointed out that Bhosle's respect for Pakistan's own revered singers like Noor Jahan and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan made her someone worth respecting beyond borders and political concerns.
"Asha Bhosle herself admired Pakistan’s legendary singer Noor Jahan, whom she fondly called her 'elder sister'. She collaborated with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and brought to life the poetry of great Urdu poets like Nasir Kazmi," he noted.
PEMRA's justification
According to the media regulator, airing "Indian content" was prohibited, and the flagged Geo News broadcast, by paying tribute to Asha Bhosle, was engaging in "wilful defiance" of a 2018 judgement by Pakistan's Supreme Court, which reinstated the ban on airing Indian content on TV channels across the country, as per a Dawn report.
Specifically, it claimed that Geo News' broadcast was in violation of Section 20 (f) of the Pemra Ordinance, 2002 as amended by the Pemra (Amendment) Act 2023, which binds channels in Pakistan to codes of programmes and advertisements approved by it, and calls for the appointment of an in-house monitoring committee that reports to PEMRA and ensures compliance.
PEMRA also claimed that the Asha Bhosle coverage violated Rule 15(1) of the PEMRA Rules 2009, Regulation 18 1 (g) of the PEMRA (Television Broadcast Station Operations) Regulations 2012, and Clauses 4(10), 5, 17, 20 and 24 of the Electronic Media (Programmes and Advertisements) Code of Conduct 2015, as per the report.
The CEO of Geo News' parent, Independent Media Corporation, has now received a summons for April 27, and has also been asked to justify why the Asha Bhosle broadcast was aired.
