ISLAMABAD: PEMRA has placed a ban on BOL TV anchor Amir Liaquat. According to a notification issued on Thursday, “In the case of non-compliance of the above orders, the licence for the channel BOL NEWS shall be suspended with immediate effect.”

“Amir Liaquat and his programme has been banned with immediate effect for preaching hate,” PEMRA notification stated.

“Amir Liaquat, the host of the programme named ‘Aisay Nahi Chalay Ga’ shall not host any programme or appear in any manner, including but not limited to, as a guest, analyst, reporter, actor, in audio, video beeper, promo/advertisement on BOL NEWS,” the notice further read.

According to a Pemra press release, in the past also Amir Liaquat has been accused of hate speech and incitement to violence and the UK government has banned his entry related to similar reasons. PBA condemns all forms of hate speech and stands by civil society and journalists. PBA encourages the government, Pemra, law enforcement authorities and judiciary to play their legal role in protecting those victims and prosecuting those who use it as a weapon for their own vested interest.

“Axact is being prosecuted for conducting a fake degree business across the world from Pakistan. The New York Times first broke the story in May 2015 and subsequently the USA’s Federal Bureau of Investigation has also confirmed that Axact was operating fake degree websites. The sponsors of Axact have had their bank accounts frozen in USA based on this business activity and a senior employee of Axact was arrested in USA in December 2016. The USA Justice Dept is prosecuting a case against the Axact employee for over Rs 150 billion (US Dollars140 million). In Pakistan the case is being investigated by the FIA however all the four main prosecutors have resigned due to unknown reasons and their replacements have not been hired so far.”