The government has shut down Al Jazeera English’s website in Pakistan, citing what the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MoIB) called “selective reporting” on the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections.
The ministry posted a statement on X, saying that it had “taken note of Al Jazeera’s selective reporting from handpicked polling stations in Muzaffarabad today.” It said that “through carefully chosen timings and scripted statements from selected individuals, the channel has sought to misrepresent AJK elections and the voting process.”
The ministry termed the coverage “yellow journalism” and said that it “only confirms the agenda of external actors with vested interests who are attempting to delegitimise this electoral exercise and undermine the popular will of the people of Muzaffarabad and AJK, clearly demonstrated today in their rejection of anarchy and coercion.”
The second phase covered nine territorial constituencies in Muzaffarabad division and all 12 refugee constituencies across Pakistan. While counting continued, polling in LA-27 Muzaffarabad-I and at 71 polling stations in LA-28 Muzaffarabad-II was postponed until Tuesday after landslides and adverse weather prevented polling staff and election materials from reaching the affected areas.
