AFGHANISTAN:TV stations see a political agenda behind state's support for a religious-inspired ban on popular programmes, writes Jon Boonein Kabul
BANK ADVERTISEMENTS and Indian soap operas are being forced off the air in Afghanistan as the government cracks down on "un-Islamic" television under pressure from religious leaders.
A letter sent to all TV stations earlier this week by the ministry of culture and information told broadcasters to stop running adverts publicising interest rates. Although interest is forbidden under strict interpretations of Islam, it is legal in Afghanistan.
The letter also called for a ban on images of men and women dancing and any other programming deemed to be un-Islamic. Signed by a senior official at the ministry, it repeated the demands made by a parliamentary committee three weeks ago, which media executives claim are not legally binding.
Anwar Sadat, general manager of Ayna TV, said President Hamid Karzai's government was trying to muzzle television stations' news divisions in the run-up to next year's presidential elections.
"It is clear that the ministry of culture doesn't want television channels to progress. The politicians don't like our criticisms and they are trying to silence us." The move comes after a lengthy campaign by the ministry and religious leaders against Indian soap operas.
Millions of families tune in every day, often firing up generators for the half-hour shows to catch their daily fix of glamorous Indian elite family life.
But with their flashes of female flesh and occasional background glimpses of statues of Hindu gods, they have been declared contrary to both Islamic virtues and Afghan tradition by the ministry of information and culture.
Despite efforts to blur anything that might cause offence, the programmes are a far cry from seven years ago, when television was banned by the fanatically conservative Taliban regime.
Some clerics have even promised to attack stations and blow up television masts if the channels persist.
This week the Ariana and Noorin stations bowed to pressure to stop broadcasting the programmes. But two other privately owned stations, Afghan TV and Tolo, are holding out.
They have until Tuesday to comply, but Tolo says it has no intention of denying viewers their daily fix of the Kasauti Zindagi Kay and Tulsi, an enormously popular drama nicknamed after its central character.
Ahmad Fakoor, deputy director of the commission for media law violations, said the decision had nothing to do with politics and that the ministry was simply enforcing the country's constitution.
"We are trying to help the stations. We are the shield that will protect them from [ the council of mullahs] who have threatened to take matters into their own hands unless the government takes action," he said.
If the ban is enforced - and President Karzai has indicated that he supports it - it could financially cripple the stations.
The soaps attract most of Afghanistan's limited television advertising dollars which, the stations say, are then invested in news.
Jahid Mohseni, a director of Moby Media, which owns Tolo TV, said the soaps accounted for almost half the station's advertising revenue.
The ministry aroused suspicion earlier this year by demanding a detailed breakdown of the television stations' revenue streams. Mr Mohseni fears the attack on soaps could the start of greater curbs on the industry. -