TV/FM publicity ban not enough, Pak needs to go far beyond: MEA

India on Wednesday said an effective action by the Pakistani government against LeT and other terror outfits will have to go far beyond “merely” proscribing their publicity through electronic media, asserting a complete ban on them by the country is long overdue. 

The comments made by External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup came in reaction to Pakistan’s decision to ban publicity of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) through electronic media.

“We have seen media reports that Pakistan’s electronic media regulator has imposed a ban on the publicity of LeT, JuD and FIF through electronic media. The relevant notification and its implications need to be studied. At first sight, it does appear that it is a ban merely on publicity through electronic media,” he said.

Acknowledging for the first time that the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led JuD is a wing of LeT, the Pakistan government has asked broadcasters to refrain from covering such terror groups.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority has issued a notification, banning all TV channels and FM radio from coverage of 72 banned groups including LeT, JuD and FIF under UN restriction. "The JuD and FIF are the other wings of LeT,” the notification said. This is for the first time that Pakistan has admitted that JuD and FIF are “other wings of LeT”.

However, India asserted that “a complete and enforceable ban” by Pakistan on all activities of all UN-proscribed affiliates of LeT, and other terrorist groups, active in Pakistan has been long overdue.