In a meeting with owners of Pakistan's prominent media organisations in Islamabad earlier this week, the country's powerful military directed them to stop any coverage related to former prime minister Imran Khan amid ongoing political crisis, a report claimed. This comes as Imran Khan's popularity remains unscathed after his arrested in land fraud case- Al-Qadir Trust case- on May 9 following which members of his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf stormed military buildings and ransacked the residence of a top army general in the Lahore.
Read more: 'When you have a huge crisis…': Imran Khan on Pakistan's downturn
What happened in the meeting as per the report?
The Intercept reported that the ban put in place by Pakistan's military limits media coverage related to Imran Khan and has been confirmed by more than half a dozen journalists of the country. After the meeting, news organisations across Pakistan issued directives to their journalists to pause coverage of Imran Khan, the report claimed.
"They have lots of levers to hurt media companies," a Pakistani journalist was quoted as saying by The Intercept.
"Messing with their print distribution, messing with their cable distribution are just some. Blackmail is another tool," the journalist added.
Have there been such orders before?
On June 2, Pakistan’s electronic media regulatory authority barred coverage of “hate mongers, rioters, their facilitators and perpetrators.”
Why is the decision been taken?
Imran Khan has at odds with Pakistan military since he was removed from power last year in a no confidence vote which he claimed was orchestrated by the country's top generals. Imran Khan has repeatedly made claims against the army, all of which have been denied by the latter.
{{/usCountry}}Imran Khan has at odds with Pakistan military since he was removed from power last year in a no confidence vote which he claimed was orchestrated by the country's top generals. Imran Khan has repeatedly made claims against the army, all of which have been denied by the latter.
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