ARY’s Shoaib Jatt, Badami spark anger for airing Babar Azam’s private chat
ARY News is receiving backlash for airing a private chat between Babar Azam and a PCB official.
In the WhatsApp message aired on ARY, Babar was asked whether it was true that PCB Chief Zaka Ashraf was not answering his call. Babar’s Urdu language answer on the screen reads, “I haven’t made any call to sir (PCB Chief).
When Waseem Badami was done reading the message to his viewers, one of the participants of the show, Azhar Ali, objected and asked whether Shoaib Jatt, who appears on the show, had taken permission to air Babar Azam’s private chat or was the broadcaster allowed to show it on screen.
Shoaib Jatt had no justification to air the message and clarified that the message was not sent to him but he failed to explain whether it was still appropriate to air someone’s private chat which he had received from another source.
The show sparked anger on social media, with people calling for action against ARY News, Waseem Badami and Shoaib Jatt under the Cyber Crime Act.
Shoaib Jatt is known as a controversial reporter who is often accused of maligning certain cricketers as part of his agenda.
Pakistan’s squash player Noorena Shams also called for action against them for leaking the private chat of Babar Azam on TV.
Later on, Waseem Badami issued a video statement and explained that the PCB Chief had allowed them to air the screenshot.
He, however, regretted the decision to air it without Babar Azam’s consent: