Soap opera, music programs shut down in Afghanistan out of fear of the Taliban

(PTI) Dubai, Dt

With the new Taliban regime beginning to rule in Afghanistan under Islamic law, most of the popular private television networks have shut down their partially pornographic soap operas and music programs. However, independent Afghan news stations have retained female anchors as they examine how much freedom the media enjoys.

The Taliban regime is beginning to rule once again after the departure of American forces in Afghanistan. The Taliban has instructed the media in Afghanistan to take special care that their programs are not against Islamic law and national interests. However, the Taliban have repeatedly claimed in the past fortnight that their new government will not be as radical as it was two decades ago. Yet the whole world is watching how the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Freedom of the media will also be an important measure of valuing the Taliban regime, a terrorist group that has killed journalists in the past.

He enforced strict Islamic law during the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan between 19 and 2001. Girls and women were banned from entering schools and public life and were forced to cover their heads from head to toe. This time, however, the Taliban claim to have become more moderate. They are now sharing videos of girls going to school in their provinces.

To dispel his radical image, a Taliban leader visited a female anchor of Tolo News in Kabul for the first time in history. However, the 9-year-old anchor Behishta Arghand has fled Afghanistan out of fear of the Taliban. Meanwhile, hundreds of women protested outside the Presidential Palace in Kabul on Friday calling on the new Taliban government to protect women's rights and include women in the new government so as not to deprive them of the freedom they have enjoyed over the past two decades.