Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have issued a new ”religious guideline” that called on the country’s television channels to stop showing dramas and soap operas featuring women actors.
In the first such directive to Afghan media issued by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Taliban also called on women television journalists to wear Islamic hijabs while presenting their reports.
And the ministry asked the channels not to air films or programmes in which the Prophet Muhammad or other revered figures are shown.
It called for banning films or programmes that were against Islamic and Afghan values.
”These are not rules but a religious guideline’,” ministry spokesman Hakif Mohajir told AFP.
The new directive was widely circulated on Nov. 21 on social media networks.
The Taliban’s guideline for TV networks comes after two decades of explosive growth for independent Afghan media
Despite insisting they will rule more moderately this time around, the Taliban have already introduced rules for what women can wear at university, and beaten and harassed several Afghan journalists despite promising to uphold press freedoms.
The Taliban’s guideline for TV networks comes after two decades of explosive growth for independent Afghan media under the Western-backed governments that ruled the country until Aug. 15, when the Islamists regained power.
Dozens of television channels and radio stations were set up with Western assistance and private investment soon after the Taliban were toppled in 2001.
During the past 20 years, Afghan television channels offered a wide range of programmes — from an American Idol style singing competition to music videos, along with several Turkish and Indian soap operas.
Thank you. You are now signed up to Daily newsletter
When the Islamists previously ruled from 1996 to 2001, there was no Afghan media to speak of — they banned television, movies and most other forms of entertainment, deeming it immoral.
People caught watching television faced punishment, including having their set smashed. Ownership of a video player could lead to a public lashing.
There was only one radio station, Voice of Sharia, that broadcast propaganda and Islamic programming.
Support UCA News…
….as we enter the last months of 2021, we are asking readers like you to help us keep UCA News free.
For the last 40 years, UCA News has remained the most trusted and independent Catholic news and information service from Asia. Every week, we publish nearly 100 news reports, feature stories, commentaries, podcasts and video broadcasts that are exclusive and in-depth, and developed from a view of the world and the Church through informed Catholic eyes.
Our journalistic standards are as high as any in the quality press; our focus is particularly on a fast-growing part of the world – Asia – where, in some countries the Church is growing faster than pastoral resources can respond to – South Korea, Vietnam and India to name just three.
And UCA News has the advantage of having in its ranks local reporters who cover 23 countries in south, southeast, and east Asia. We report the stories of local people and their experiences in a way that Western news outlets simply don’t have the resources to reach. And we report on the emerging life of new Churches in old lands where being a Catholic can at times be very dangerous.
With dwindling support from funding partners in Europe and the USA, we need to call on the support of those who benefit from our work.
Click here to find out the ways you can support UCA News. You can make a difference for as little as US$5…
Credit: Source link
