'Art has no borders': Pakistan TV channel Geo against notice over Asha Bhosle tribute

After Pakistan's electronic media regulator PEMRA issued a show-cause notice to Geo News for airing content related to the death of legendary singer Asha Bhosle, it sparked a broader reaction about art and the shared cultural roots in the subcontinent. The Tricolour-draped mortal remains of Asha Bhosle during her state funeral in Mumbai on Monday, April 13. (ANI Photo)

Azhar Abbas, managing director of Geo News and president of the Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND), shared the news about the notice.

He wrote in the X post, “It has always been customary to revisit and celebrate the work of iconic artists when reporting on them… In fact, for an artist of Asha Bhosle's stature, we should have shared even more of her timeless and memorable songs than we did. Yet, [Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority or] PEMRA has chosen to restrict this."

Abbas did not stop at defending his channel's editorial choices.

He made a case for shared culture: “Art, like knowledge, is a shared heritage of humanity and it should not be confined by borders.”

He further noted, "Asha Bhosle herself admired Pakistan's legendary singer Noor Jahan, whom she fondly called her 'elder sister.' She collaborated with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and brought to life the poetry of great Urdu poets like Nasir Kazmi."

Asha Bhosle died in Mumbai on April 12, 2026, at the age of 92.

As tributes poured in from across the world, Geo News — one of Pakistan's most prominent television channels — covered her passing by revisiting her music and legacy.

What notice argued, and Geo MD's reply The media regulator issued a notice invoking a 2018 Supreme Court of Pakistan order that banned the airing of Indian content on television. It summoned Geo News CEO Mir Ibrahim Rehman for a hearing on April 27.

Abbas, however, batted for separating brittle politics from art.

"In times of war and conflict, art and artists should not become casualties. Intellectuals, musicians, and creators are often the very voices that stand against hatred and division, and the ones who bring people closer together," he wrote. India and Pakistan were engaged in military exchanges last year after a terror attack in Pahalgam in India's Jammu and Kashmir union territory. India carried out ‘Operation Sindoor’ against terror bases in Pakistan.