Tuesday April 4, 2023 – The Taliban-led government has shut down a women-run radio station in Afghanistan for playing music during the holy month of Ramadan, Al-Jazeera reported.
The radio station called Sadai Banowan or “women’s voice” in the Dari language, is the country’s only radio station run mainly by women. It has eight staff and six of them are females.
Moezuddin Ahmadi, Taliban’s director for information and culture in Badakhshan province, claimed that the station violated the “laws and regulations of the Islamic Emirate” several times by broadcasting songs and music during Ramadan and was shuttered because of the breach.
The station’s head, Najia Sorosh, denied that there was any violation, saying there was no need for the closure and called the action a “conspiracy”.
The Taliban “told us that you have broadcast music. We have not broadcast any kind of music,” she claimed.
Reports indicated that, local Afghan journalists who refuse to comply with the Taliban’s policies have been arrested, and put behind bars with some reporting abuse and torture after their release.
According to the Afghan Independent Journalists Association, many journalists in Afghanistan have reportedly lost their jobs after the Taliban takeover in August 2021 and many Media outlets have been closed over lack of funds or because their staff left the country.
The Taliban-led government has prevented women from most forms of employment and education beyond the sixth grade, including university; something which has continued to generate wider condemnation by global key players who are promoting girl child education in especially developing countries.
The latest sanction imposed by the Taliban regime on the Sadai Banowan is viewed by many human rights activists as a deliberate attempt to muzzle the press in Afghanistan.
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