PESHAWAR: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has accused the Taliban of banning music and women’s voices in the media in some provinces of Afghanistan.
The committee said in its weekly report that the restrictions on the media were mostly imposed in Takhar, Balkh, Jawzjan and Ghor provinces. The CPJ report said Taliban officials had directed media outlets in Takhar to refrain from airing serials and films featuring female faces. The report said in a meeting with reporters in Balkh and Jawzjan provinces, the Taliban’s Amr al-Ma’ruf and Nahi al-Munkar organizations reminded them of the recent restrictions on the observance of the hijab, the ban on music and some other limitations are included.
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In Ghor province, too, the Taliban have banned music in Tv and radio programs, the report said, adding that media officials were told that there should be no music in the broadcast. The CPJ said that with the advent of the Taliban, women have been banned from working in media in Badghis and there are currently no female media workers in the province.
In the report of the committee, Baz Mohammad Sarwari, the director of information and culture of the Taliban in Badghis province, informed that the issue of not allowing female journalists to work would be shared with the officials at the center and a solution would be found. The report said that Ferozkoh radio station in Ghor province has stopped broadcasting, leaving all radio staff unemployed. According to the report, the reason for the closure of the radio station was economic problems.
The CPJ report said that Aina TV has recently resumed operations and a radio station called “Nejat” has been set up in Paktika province. The CPJ has also reported that the Taliban officials are not ready to share information with reporters. “The reporters were told in some provinces that they were invited only to those meetings that were in the interests of the Taliban government.”
However, the CJP said that some coordination has recently been established between journalists and the Information and Culture Departments in some provinces, and that the department has assured in some province of providing information to reporters.