Three months after retaking power in Afghanistan, promising moderation and a regime different from the quasi-medievalism seen in the late 1990s, the Taliban published last Sunday (21) a package of guidelines for the media in the country that shows that reality holds quite a distance from the speech.
The industry’s first regulation since the Islamic fundamentalist group regained control of the country in practice dramatically affects women’s work on television stations.
Under the new rules, it is prohibited to broadcast TV dramas that include actresses — a measure that targets, for example, soap operas produced in Turkey and India, very popular in recent times and fundamental for the income of many channels.
The Taliban will also order women journalists who present news on TV to wear a hiyab. The term generally refers to the Islamic veil that covers the hair and neck, leaving the face visible.
Although most women in Afghanistan already wear such garments in public, the measure has caused concern as, according to activists interviewed by Reuters, as the hiyab pattern is not specified in the guidelines, the term could be considered vague and interpreted as meaning more conservative ways.
Altogether, the package establishes nine measures that, according to the recently reinstated Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, aim to curb content that infringes on Islamic or Afghan values.
The rules drew criticism from exiled journalists and human rights organizations. “Imagine what the media will be like with the new guidelines: a journalist, a man with a bushy beard, reads your story and ends it with praise for the Taliban government,” wrote Zaki Daryabi, director of Etilaat Roz, one of the main Afghan newspapers, on Twitter .
The international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) said press freedom is deteriorating in Afghanistan. “The disappearance of any space for dissent and the tightening of restrictions on women in the media and the arts is devastating,” said Patricia Gossman, associate director for Asia at HRW, in a statement.
In the same vein, Zan TV, the first Afghan television station exclusively made up of female producers and reporters, wrote that the new guidelines “will reduce the presence of women journalists”.
The latest Taliban statements add to the concern of Afghan journalists. Also on Sunday, Qari Abdul Sattar Saeed, press secretary to the Taliban prime minister, called the media an intermediary for “enemy propaganda”.
“Until now, we’ve had a lot of patience, tolerating most of the propaganda spread around the world,” he said, adding that enemies “should be treated as they deserve, harshly.”
During its first government, from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban banned television and all forms of entertainment it deemed immoral. After its defeat to US-led troops, the Afghan media scene grew and dozens of radio and television stations rose to prominence, backed by the West.
After the Taliban returned to power, several vehicles closed down due to the flight of their journalists and the end of international aid and advertising revenue.
The country has also suffered from terrorist attacks in the country’s main cities. Since the extremist group regained control of Kabul, bombings have multiplied, many claimed by the local branch of Islamic State, a rival to the Taliban.
On the 13th, six people died after a bomb exploded in a minibus in the Dasht-e-Barchi area, populated by the Hazara Shiite ethnic minority. It was at least the sixth such incident in 40 days.
Journalist Hamid Seighani, who worked for the Ariana television network, was killed in the explosion, the Afghan Journalists Center and his wife reported.
This Tuesday (23), the US State Department announced that a representative of the agency will travel next week to Doha, Qatar, for a new round of meetings with the Taliban. On the agenda should be topics such as counterterrorism, economics and humanitarian aid.
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