A Toronto-based Muslim group is condemning a Pakistani program that aired across Canada for inciting hate, and is calling for an investigation.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Canada filed a complaint with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission this week over comments aired on the popular Pakistani network Geo TV — which is carried by both Bell and Rogers.
A guest cleric called Ahmadi Muslims “an enemy of all of Pakistan” and accused the group of blasphemy during a Dec. 22 program, according to the group and news reports.
Safwan Choudhry, a spokesman for Ahmadiyya, said the cleric also accused Ahmadi Muslims and Jews of planning the notorious terrorist attack in Peshawar that killed 140 people, most of them children. The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility.
The group is worried those comments could fuel violence by extremists in both Canada and Pakistan, Choudhry said.
“That is a very dangerous statement coming to Canada,” he said.
Calling the recent comments “obnoxious and false accusations,” Choudhry said the CRTC should keep a closer eye on foreign broadcasters airing in Canada.
The program — aired in Urdu — was hosted by Aamir Liaquat, a controversial media figure. In a similar incident in 2008, his program featured a cleric denouncing Ahmadi Muslims.
“We very much respect, appreciate and live by our Canadian values, which are freedom of expression,” Choudhry said, adding that the group is not demanding the cancellation of Geo TV. “But there need to be guidelines in place that say, ‘Are we allowing networks to be aired in Canada that are contrary to our Canadian values and beliefs?’ In this case, inciting hate is.”
The CRTC told Metro it has received six complaints about the program and that it would respond to each individually. The CRTC prohibits the broadcasting of “abusive language,” which includes hate speech, whether content is Canadian or foreign-made.
But a spokeswoman also said foreign broadcasters operate “under the laws and regulations in place in their respective countries of origin,” adding that Canadian service providers are “not generally involved in any programming decisions.”
In Pakistan, Geo TV apologized for the program after the comments made national headlines. Pakistan’s broadcast regulator condemned Geo TV for violating its code of conduct and said it could be subject to penalties.
The CRTC has put restrictions on foreign networks in the past based on concerns about hate speech.
It placed restrictions, for example, on Al Jazeera’s Arabic network, requiring that any distributor take measures to ensure no hate speech was broadcast on the network.