Aamir Liaquat parts ways with BOL

JournalismPakistan.com | Published: 18 November 2017

Aamir Liaquat has officially parted ways with BOL News after a tumultuous year marked by controversies and management disagreements. He announced his departure in a tweet, stating that the journey has ended on unfriendly terms.
Summary

ISLAMABAD – Controversial anchor Aamir Liaquat has parted ways with BOL News just over a year after joining the channel as executive president.

In a tweet Saturday he said: “The journey has come to an end & not a friendly end. Now I am not part of #BOL. They owe me my dues. #KhudaHafizBOL.”

Liaquat was missing from the BOL screen for several days.

Unconfirmed reports say he was not getting along well with the CEO Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh.

Liaquat’s stay at the channel was full of controversies. A few months ago, he announced in his program Aisay Nahi Chalay Ga he was hosting his last show that day. Insiders say he got scolded by the CEO during a break in his show for making remarks on air not in line with BOL’s policy. This prompted him to make the announcement to quit.

Following that incident, he remained off screen for many days. Officials said he was on leave. In fact, the management was persuading him to return. He did come back.

At the start of the year, the electronic media regulator PEMRA banned his program for preaching hate. The Supreme Court later ordered BOL News to stop airing hateful content forthwith or face contempt of court charges.

In March, PEMRA ordered Liaquat to apologize unconditionally to all individuals in his program by specifically naming each of them against whom he made hate comments. A fine of Rs1 million was also imposed on the channel.

In September he was arrested in Myanmar by immigration officials on arrival. He had gone there to help the troubled Rohingya Muslims. He was later deported.

Photo: Twitter (@AamirLiaquat)

KEY POINTS: