Pakistan, Turkey, Malaysia to launch Islamic TV channel

Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia have decided to launch an English language TV channel to confront multiple challenges, including those of Islamophobia, Prime Minister Imran Khan has announceed.

Under the joint venture by the three countries, series and films would be produced so that the Muslims and the world at large could be educated on the Islamic history, The News International quoted Khan, who is here for the 74th UN General Assembly, as saying in a tweet on Wednesday night.

"President Erdogan, PM Mahatir and myself had a meeting today (Wdnesday) in which we decided our three countries would jointly start an English language channel dedicated to confronting the challenges posed by Islamophobia and setting the record straight on our great religion - Islam," he said a series of tweets.

"Misperceptions which bring people together against Muslims would be corrected; issue of blasphemy would be properly contextualized; series and films would be produced on Muslim history to educate/inform our own people & the world; Muslims would be given a dedicated media presence."

The announcement came shortly after Khan attended a high-level, roundtable discussion on 'Countering Hate Speech' co-hosted by Pakistan and Turkey.

Khan called on for effective measures to counter hate speech and Islamophobia, stressing upon the importance of addressing both the causes and consequences of these phenomena.