Pakistan suspends Geo News licence over Muharram programme broadcast.
Regulator says content risked hurting religious sentiments and public order.
Geo News apologises and removes disputed footage from all platforms.
Pakistan's media regulator has suspended the broadcast licence of Geo News for fifteen days following content aired during a programme marking Muharram, one of the most sensitive periods in the Islamic calendar.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, said the channel had aired what it called religious visualisations during a 10th Muharram transmission of the programme "Safar e Ishq" on June 26, content it said risked offending religious sentiment, undermining religious harmony and disturbing public order.
The regulator added that the broadcast amounted to a serious regulatory concern given the religious, cultural and social sensitivities involved, and said it could hurt the feelings of viewers while creating a risk to public peace.
Geo News, one of Pakistan's largest private television channels, apologised on Sunday, a day after the suspension was announced, acknowledging what it described as an editorial error, DW reported.
The channel said the footage in question depicted rituals practised by a limited number of people in Iraq and other parts of the West Asia, intended to illustrate local customs rather than to endorse any particular religious view. It did not specify further what the rituals involved, though such practices are believed to relate to ta'ziyah, processions and plays performed by some Shia Muslims in Iraq depicting early Islamic figures, a tradition generally discouraged within the larger Sunni school of thought.
The material has since been pulled from all the broadcaster's platforms.
Depictions of the Prophet Mohammed and other revered Islamic figures remain a deeply charged issue in Pakistan, a country that has previously seen mass protests over cartoons published abroad. Around ninety per cent of Pakistanis are Sunni Muslims, with roughly ten per cent belonging to the Shia minority, and tensions between the two communities have occasionally spilled into violence. Authorities typically tighten security and media oversight during Muharram each year.
The regulator has directed Geo to carry out an internal inquiry and referred the matter to its Council of Complaints. Pakistan continues to face criticism over press freedom, with broadcasters periodically subjected to suspensions and transmission curbs. Reporters Without Borders placed the country 158th out of 180 nations in its 2025 World Press Freedom Index, before its ranking improved slightly to 153rd in the 2026 edition.
