SRINAGAR, April 24: Indian authorities have stopped cable TV operators from broadcasting four Pakistani television channels in occupied Kashmir, a move the Kashmiris described as “cultural aggression” by New Delhi.

Pakistani television channels are very popular in Kashmir and cable TV provides the main form of entertainment for people in the troubled region.

More than 50 channels, including three Islamic ones, are usually available, showing news, films and other entertainment in Hindi and English. Some channels also broadcast in the Kashmiri language.

“After receiving orders from the administration, we immediately blocked all four (PTV, ARY, Aaj and Geo TV) channels,” Irfan Ahmad, a leading cable operator said in Srinagar.

Pakistani Urdu-language channels, including state-run PTV and private network GEO, were widely viewed in Kashmir.

A local official ordered cable operators to stop providing the four Pakistani channels, on the orders of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The cable operators were told they had violated the ministry’s requirement that providers must apply for permission for channels based overseas.

Kashmiri militant groups were outraged. “It is another indication of naked aggression by Indian authorities,” read a statement from a separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chief cleric and chairman of Kashmir’s main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, termed the ban on Pakistani TV channels as “cultural aggression” by Indian authorities.

“Kashmir has religious and cultural links with Pakistan and it is unethical to ban Pakistani TV channels,” local newspapers quoted Farooq as saying.

Kashmiri leaders also said the Pakistani channels, which went off the air on Wednesday, were targeted for reporting on the human rights situation in the region. “The order is an act of frustration,” said Farooq.

“Pakistani media had begun to comment on the human rights situation in Kashmir, especially the situation of unmarked graves.”

The situation in Kashmir has been tense in recent weeks, with police tear-gassing protesters calling for a proper investigation into 1,000 unmarked graves discovered over the past two years.

Farooq said the move to bar the channels had “dented the claims” about the improving situation in the state.

“The move to stop airing Pakistani channels shows the real face of Indian government,” said Geelani, who heads a Hurriyat faction. “They are talking about normalisation of the situation, friendship and trade but what can one understand from this decision?”

Pro-India parties also expressed resentment. “It goes against the freedom of the press,” said Nizamuddin Bhat, general secretary of People’s Democratic Party, which is part of the ruling coalition.—Agencies