Pakistani TV Talk Show Host Taken Off Air Allegedly for Criticizing Military 

ISLAMABAD - A popular television political talk show host in Pakistan said Monday his employer had removed him from the job for his criticism of the country’s powerful military.     “Nothing new for me. I was banned twice in the past. Lost jobs twice,” Hamid Mir, host of the Capital Talk political show on the private Geo News channel, wrote on Twitter.    The announcement comes just days after Mir delivered a speech, critical of the army, at a rally in Islamabad in support of fellow journalist Asad Ali Toor, who was beaten by unidentified assailants in his apartment in the Pakistani capital last week.    Geo News did not issue any statement in support of Mir’s claims. Officials at the network did not respond to VOA’s query about the issue.     “Survived assassination attempts but cannot stop raising voice for the rights given in the constitution. This time, I am ready for any consequences and ready to go at any extent because they are threatening my family,” Mir alleged in his tweet, without naming any individual or Pakistani institution.   Nothing new for me.I was banned twice in the past.Lost jobs twice.Survived assassination attempts but cannot stop raising voice for the rights given in the constitution.This time I m ready for any consequences and ready to go at any extent because they are threatening my family. https://t.co/82y1WdrP5S

  It was not immediately clear whether the television station had banned Mir under pressure from any Pakistani institution. Local journalists’ groups demanded an explanation from the news network’s runners.     Information Minister Fawad Hussain Chaudhry wrote in the Urdu language on Twitter that the government had nothing to do with the working of any broadcast groups, saying all of them are functioning under relevant constitutional clauses and independently decide to air their programs and appoint teams for them.