The state government in Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir has initiated action against 34 television channels beamed from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, reckoning that these channels have the “potential to encourage violence and can disturb law and order situation in Kashmir”.

The latest Indian government order to act against transmission of these channels, which include news, entertainment, food and cuisine, religion and sports channels, has come nearly two weeks after the government imposed an unprecedented ban on 22 social networking sites in Indian-held Kashmir Valley on April 26.

New Delhi often blames Islamabad for fomenting trouble in Indian-held Kashmir, but Pakistan denies its involvement and describes the “freedom struggle” of the people of Kashmir as “indigenous”.

In a letter written by principal secretary home Mr. R K Goyal addressed to all deputy commissioners, the state’s home department has sought a compliance report on the matter by Monday.

The channels whose transmission is to be banned, according to the letter, include Noor TV, Karbala TV, Hum TV, ARY Zindagi, Geo News, Geo Tez, Express News, ARY News, ARY Zauq, ARY Masala, ARY Musik, ARY News Asia, ARY Digital Asia, ARY QTV, A TV, Abb Tak News, Waseb TV, 92 News, Duniya News, Samna News, Peace TV English, Peace TV Urdu, Madni Channel, Hadi TV, Paigam, Hidayat, Saudi Al-Sunnah, Al-Nabawiyah, Saudi Al-Quran, Al-Karim, Sehar, Ahli-biat TV and Message TV.

Jammu and Kashmir government’s home department intends to stop what it describes as “unauthorised broadcast” of all the above channels which are available in held Kashmir via cable networks.

Predictably, the proposed ban has irked many Kashmiris, especially women and elderly people, who regularly watch entertainment and religious channels for variety of reasons.

Many entertainment, food and cuisine and sports channels beamed from Pakistan are a huge hit in most Kashmiri homes.

People, especially working women and housewives, spend substantial time in watching Pakistani television serials while some stay glued to the TV screen for learning modern recipes of Pakistani delicacies.

Some elderly people who can’t perform Haj due to physical frailties or financial stress often spend their time while watching channels like Saudi Al-Quran, Madni, Noor TV and Hadi TV just to see pictures of Mecca and Masjid-e-Nabvi for spiritual solace.

For Nausheen, a young Kashmiri working woman, the proposed ban on Pakistani channels is uncalled-for and against the very spirit and idea of globalisation.

“No one should have the right to deny facilities available for infotainment, sports or devotion available on television. The government ban is anti-globalisation and essentially undemocratic and authoritarian,” Nausheen tells Dawn.

The new government order has surprised many Kashmiri women who keenly watch news, entertainment, dramas and recipe making programmes on various Pakistani television channels via cable.

Another Kashmiri woman argues that many would-be-brides were learning new recipes on Pakistani television, but the government is unfortunately choking this space too.

Mohammad Athar Mir, a class XI student from downtown Srinagar, is a huge cricket fan. After school and tuition, he often watches Pakistani sports and news channels to keep himself abreast with the latest developments regarding his favourite team, Pakistan.

“I do not care a lot about the news channels, but the government’s proposed ban on sports and entertainment channels is imprudent and silly,” Athar Mir tells Dawn.

He says that his father, a businessman, has been deprived of an agency for he remains an ardent news follower.

“Usually my father spends his evenings by watching Geo News. The ban has upset him emotionally,” he says.

‘Cultural aggression’

Irfan Ahmad, a key Kashimir watcher, argues that the ban “only exposes the deceptive sound bite of India’s attorney general at the UN, saying that India is a secular state equidistant from a particular religion.”

“Well, see the government has targeted a particular religion by the new proposal. The ban further delegitimizes Indian control in Kashmir,” Ahmad adds.

Gowhar Yasin, a teacher by profession, describes the ban on social networking sites and Pakistani channels as India’s “cultural aggression” in Kashmir.

Yasin says that it was no secret that the people in Kashmir love to watch Pakistani news and infotainment channels. His sisters and cousins, he says, love to learn new recipes by watching food and cuisine channels (ARY Zauq and Hum TV) while he himself remains a sports buff.

“The decision to ban Pakistani Islamic, cultural and sports channels is direct interference in our affairs and cultural aggression aimed at detaching us from our roots. It is a form of violence by the state to choke us as a people and to award collective punishment for our political aspiration,”