PEMRA bans ARY Digital’s drama Jalan

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) banned on Thursday the telecast of ARY Digital's drama Jalan.

According to a notification, PEMRA has put an immediate ban on the drama as it goes against the "social and moral ethics of Pakistani society".

The statement reads that PEMRA had given repeated warnings to the channel ARY Digital to revise the content of Jalan, however, the channel refused to comply with PEMRA’s warnings and it has now been banned under Section 27 of the PEMRA Ordinance.

پیمرا کی اے آر وائی ڈیجیٹل کے ڈرامہ سیریل "جلن" پر پابندی عائد pic.twitter.com/97tA7q4okB

— Report PEMRA (@reportpemra) September 10, 2020

As a result, PEMRA has now put an immediate ban on the drama. Jalan is about an illicit affair between a man and his sister-in-law. Outrage regarding the drama’s plot has been brewing on social media ever since the drama began airing.

Earlier, PEMRA said that it was reviewing complaints filed against the drama. The channel was directed to review its content.

PEMRA added that it had been getting complaints from viewers on a daily basis through the Pakistan Citizens Portal, PEMRA social media accounts, and PEMRA call centres.

On September 4, PEMRA banned the repeat telecast of ARY Digital and Hum TV drama serials Ishqiya and Pyar Ke Sadqay citing that the content of the dramas is against the ‘morals’ of society.

The notification issued by the regulatory body on Friday stated that the ban has been imposed under Section 27 of PEMRA Ordinance.

Section 27 (prohibition of broadcast media or distribution service operation) states that broadcasting or re-broadcasting or distributing of any programme is prohibited if PEMRA is of the opinion that the programme is pornographic, obscene, vulgar or is offensive to the commonly accepted standards of decency.

PEMRA had also requested all stakeholders to immediately review the content of their future dramas.