ARY News in the United Kingdom extended its apology to a Pakistani Sindhi educationist Dr Syed Alam Shah for labelling him an Indian agent.
Notably, Dr Shah tool part in a protest against former Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar’s on his visit to London in November 2018 to raise funds for the water dam construction.
The protest outside Nawaab Restaurant London was staged by a group of Pakistani human rights activists who mostly hailed from Sindh. They had raised slogans against Saqib Nisar and the construction of the dams without taking Sindhis into confidence.
According to details, ARY News apologized to Alam Shah and accepted that false accusations have caused serious harm to the reputation of Dr Syed Alam Shah and he had faced embarrassment.
It is pertinent to mention here that ARY News operates in the United Kingdom under the name New Vision Television (NVTV). The company was erected after ARY was shut down in the UK four years ago after losing defamation case to Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.
Lawyers for Mir Shakilur Rehman identified ARY programmes in which he had been libeled between 2013 and 2014. The broadcasts included repeated claims that he was a traitor to Pakistan who had conspired with Indian intelligence agencies and the CIA to publish fabricated stories maligning Pakistan’s armed forces.
The channel said Mir Shakilur Rehman should have no right to live in Pakistan and that his company should be stripped of its broadcasting licence. ARY even accused him of blasphemy and of desecrating the holy Quran.
The ARY was later told it must not repeat any of the allegations. It was further restrained from broadcasting anything saying Mir Shakilur Rehman is a traitor, or is disloyal to Pakistan, or has behaved treacherously, or has committed treason or that he is guilty of blasphemy, or desecration of the holy Quran.
Noteworthy, the UK is a lucrative media market, given the 1.7 million people with Pakistani links living in the country.