Wolesi Jirga wants “un-Islamic TV shows” banned

KABUL on Saturday set a one-month deadline for Information and Culture Minister Syed Makhdom Raheen to ban “anti-Islamic broadcasts” by TV channels.

Raheen was summoned to Saturday’s session for what lawmakers called vulgar and un-Islamic programmes aired by some TV channels.

“Some people misinterpret the term of freedom of expression and think that they are free to insult or accuse anyone of anything and broadcast anything they want,” public representative from western Herat province, Khalil Ahmad Shaheedzada, said.

“I can prove that TV channels are one of the reasons for the war in Afghanistan a reason to wage their war against the Afghan government and train suicide bombers,” he said.

The lawmaker called for the introduction of a law that protected cultural and Islamic values in Afghanistan and under which legal action could be initiated against violators.

Another legislator from Parwan, Abdul Sattar Khawasi, said most TV programmes were misleading. “TV channels are not for the correction of people, but are tasked with misleading the Muslims of Afghanistan by non-Muslim groups,” he alleged.

He said there should be a jihad against TV channels promoting culture and religious beliefs of others through dramas and films.

However, another MP, Baktash Syawash, said Khwasi’s remarks were to please militants.

Lawmaker Naqibullah Faiq said all media outlets should not be considered as misleading and should be supported. He said the media had made a remarkable progress in Afghanistan over the past 11 years.

But he accused the Ministry of Information and Culture of avoiding to put pressure on channels which insulted prominent political and jihadi figures and incited tribal differences.

In response, Raheen said if he banned some TV programmes, they would immediately raise their voices against him and would accuse him of suppressing the freedom of expression and no one would then come forward to support him.

He argued many media outlets played positive role in changing public minds and convoying information over the past decade. Such TV channels should be supported, he added.

While supporting Raheen’s point of view, Speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi set him one-month time to stop TV programmes insulting personalities or ran counter to Islamic and cultural values.

myn/ma

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