Pakistani TV bans host of talk show after he criticized army

A Pakistani television station has taken a prominent journalist off air, removing him as host of a popular talk show after he criticized the country’s powerful military

ISLAMABAD -- A Pakistani television station on Monday took a prominent journalist off air, removing him as host of a popular talk show after he criticized the country’s powerful military. The development comes just days after the journalist, Hamid Mir, made a fiery speech at a rally in support of a fellow reporter, Asad Ali Toor, who was beaten up by three unidentified men in his apartment in Islamabad. Geo News TV did not comment on the changes regarding its “Capital Talk,” a five-days a week program during which Mir would invite guests to debate current events in the country. Journalists and press freedom advocates often accuse Pakistan’s military and its agencies of harassing and attacking journalists. The government insists it supports freedom of speech. Local journalists’ groups, which document attacks or violations against journalists in Pakistan, say the period from May 2020 to April 2021 saw 148 such attacks.