Pakistan anger at TV show with Bollywood judges

• 7 hours ago
• From the sectionAsia

Pakistani social media users are trying to put pressure on a leading local media network to cancel a singing competition involving Indian judges.

The Geo TV show stars Bollywood music director Shankar Mahadevan and singer Shweta Pandit.

The hashtag #GeoBetraysYetAgain has gathered traction, with many calling Geo TV "traitors".

The campaign comes after several events in India involving Pakistanis were disrupted by rightwing group Shiv Sena.

Last month, a concert by popular Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali in the western Indian city of Mumbai was cancelled after the Shiv Sena threatened to disrupt the performance.

Shiv Sena activists also doused the head of an Indian think-tank in black ink in protest at his support for the launch of a book by a former Pakistani foreign minister.

And weeks later, party activists broke into the office of India's cricket board just before a meeting between India and Pakistan's cricket board chiefs.

And now, in what appears to be a tit-for-tat move, some Pakistani social media users want the Geo TV network to cancel its singing competition "Asia Singing Superstar".

A graphic that many users are sharing reads "Pakistanis don't want to see those who are killing Muslims for eating meat and Geo management is showing entertainment programmes with an Indian agenda".

The comments are in reference to the recent lynching of a Muslim man by a Hindu mob over rumours that he consumed beef.

The sentiment has been also picked up by opposition politicians like Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, who has been retweeting some of the anti-Geo TV comments.

Other users asked "Where is Pamera?", a reference to the Pakistani media regulator which has the power to either completely shutdown a channel or impose heavy fine under what some commentators describe as draconian powers.

An article of its recently introduced code of conduct prohibits the airing of any content which is against Islamic values and the ideology of Pakistan.

But not everyone felt the same way, with other social media users defending Geo TV.