PAKISTAN REGULATOR SILENCES ASHA BHOSLE TRIBUTES, SPARKING OUTCRY OVER MEDIA CENSORSHIP
The death of one of India’s most beloved singers has exposed a fierce battle inside Pakistan over where patriotism ends and cultural suppression begins
When legendary Indian playback singer Asha Bhosle passed away on April 12 at the age of 92, tributes flowed in from around the world — including from Pakistan, where her music had for decades crossed every border that politics tried to draw. But within hours of Geo News airing coverage of her passing, Pakistan’s media regulatory authority PEMRA served the country’s largest television network with a formal show-cause notice, objecting to the broadcast of Indian songs and visuals from Indian films. The move has ignited a fierce debate about censorship, cultural identity, and the creeping reach of state control over the press.
For Pakistan’s journalism community, the notice came as a shock — not merely because of its timing, in the immediate aftermath of a beloved artist’s death, but because of what it signals about the direction of media regulation in the country. Senior Geo News journalist Azaz Syed said such unprecedented control over mainstream media had perhaps never been witnessed before, adding that the media had always worked responsibly but those controlling it had branded journalists as anti-state while portraying themselves as patriots.
The outrage was not confined to a single corner of the industry. Journalist Azhar Abbas wrote that it had always been customary in Pakistan to revisit and celebrate the work of iconic artists when reporting on them, and that for a figure of Bhosle’s stature, even more of her music should have been shared. He also noted that Bhosle herself had deeply admired Pakistan’s legendary singer Noor Jahan, whom she called her elder sister, and had collaborated with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan while bringing to life the poetry of celebrated Urdu poets including Nasir Kazmi.
The regulatory action drew comparisons to one of the darkest chapters in Pakistan’s recent history. Journalist Rauf Klasra warned against being taken back to the draconian years of the 1980s under General Zia, when even owning a VCR was considered a punishable offence, arguing that in an age of Netflix and artificial intelligence, such restrictions only made Pakistan look foolish to the world. Former information minister and PTI senator Fawad Hussain was equally blunt, describing the mindset behind the notice as illiteracy in full swing, and calling on political leadership to recognise that art, music and culture transcend political differences.
Journalist Gharidah Farooqui also spoke out, saying that art and culture have no boundaries and cannot be confined, while barrister Amir Zafar Khan called the action unnecessary censorship. Human rights reporter Alifya Sohail pointedly described it as “peace-broker pettiness,” a reference to Pakistan’s recent role as a host for diplomatic talks between Iran and the United States — underscoring the contradiction of a country positioning itself as a regional peacemaker while silencing a tribute to a singer.
Not everyone, however, saw the Geo News coverage as an act of journalistic pluralism. Pakistani journalist Wajahat Kazmi argued that airing prominent coverage of an Indian celebrity during a period tied to national remembrance showed a clear disconnect in editorial judgment, and that a major media house was expected to uphold the national narrative rather than shift focus toward cross-border entertainment.
Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, in its own tribute to Bhosle, noted that her music had transcended borders and touched the hearts of many Pakistanis — a sentiment that, for much of the public at least, needs no regulatory guidance. It was perhaps a Geo News journalist, Noreen Zahra, who captured the mood of the moment most elegantly, quoting Indian lyricist Gulzar in her protest: Ankhon ko visa nahe lagta, Sapno ki sarhad nahe hoti — eyes need no visa, for dreams know no borders.
The episode has laid bare a tension that Pakistan’s media has long had to navigate — between the demands of an assertive regulatory state and the instinct of journalists to report freely on a world that does not stop at national boundaries. With the show-cause notice still outstanding, how Geo News and PEMRA resolve the standoff is likely to set a precedent that reaches well beyond one singer’s obituary.
