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tajikistanweb.com

Afghanistan’s biggest private TV station has vowed to continue broadcasting Indian dramas despite the Culture Ministry’s decision to take Indian soap operas off the air. The director of Tolo TV Saad Mohseni believes that the Ministry’s decision is ‘illegal’ and ‘anti-Constitutional’. In an interview to Tajikistanweb.com Mohseni stated that Abdulkarim Khurram, Afghanistan’s Minister of Information and Culture, was mainly engaged in ideological activities rather than cultural affairs.

Tolo TV’s defiance follows President Hamid Karzai’s support for the Culture Ministry’s decision that considers Indian dramas inappropriate for Afghan audience. Abdul Karim Khurram pointed at ‘anti-Islamic’ character of some of sequences and images in programs.

"This wrong perception might have occurred due to the obviously Indian themes of the soap operas," says Mohseni. "But we blur all elements that appear to be against Islam, like Hindu idols. For the same reason Hindu prayers are cut out of the dramas. These allegations are really inaccurate."

While other Afghan TV channels bowed to pressure and ceased broadcasting Indian dramas on Wednesday, the Tolo TV audience was still able to watch Tulsi, an Indian soap opera known as the most popular programme in Afghanistan, and Kasauti Zindagi Kay (Trials of Life). All Indian programmes are dubbed into Persian (Dari) or Pashto, says Mohseni, and they are extremely popular among the Afghan public.

Karzai’s backing of Khurram’s decision has not surprised Tolo TV management. "Karzai’s reaction was natural", says Mohseni. "The country moves towards its national elections scheduled for 2009. That’s why he might be precautious. However, we do not agree with the authorities, since what they demand is against the law."

Afghanistan’s National Journalists Union has denounced the Culture Ministry’s decision in a statement issued on Wednesday where it says:

"The Ministry of Information and Culture has abused the powers granted to it by using media organisations controlled by the government, in particular Radio and Television of Afghanistan, to make inflammatory statements against private television stations, consequences of which are frightening and potentially life threatening. Afghanistan’s National Journalists Union and Tolo TV are extremely concerned about the physical safety of Tolo TV staff in Kabul and the provinces, and the physical safety of members of Afghanistan’s National Journalists’ Union."
Tolo TV has challenged the Ministry of Culture to settle the problem through the court.