New Delhi: A female TV presenter is interviewing a Taliban officer on screen for the world to see – the scene was meant to be eye-catching, and it happened.
At a time when people around the world are fearing for the lives and future of women in the country under Taliban rule, the image featured on Tolo News on Tuesday certainly tried to send a different message.
“The whole world now believes that the Taliban are the real rulers of the country,” Mawlawi Abdulhaq Hemad, a member of the Taliban media team, told presenter Behesht Arghand. The New York Times reported that door-to-door searches were being conducted.
“I am still surprised that people are afraid of the Taliban,” he said.
In a tweet, journalist Matthew Aikins, who has reported extensively on Afghanistan, called the interview “remarkable, historic, encouraging”, although he pointed out in the same post that the Taliban had previously “reached out to Afghan and foreign women journalists”. was given. During peace talks in Doha.
fear in women
Since the takeover, the Taliban, which has a history of subjugating women, has indicated that its stance on women’s affairs is no longer as harsh as before. In a recent statement, a Taliban spokesman said that they respect women’s rightsAnd that women would be allowed to leave home alone, and have access to education and work, provided they wear the hijab.
On Tuesday, the Taliban also urged the women of the country to join its government As it announced “Amnesty” across the country.
Enamullah Samangani of the Taliban’s Cultural Commission said “the Islamic Emirate does not want women to suffer”. He also said that women “should be in the government structure according to Sharia law”.
However, all this has not helped in alleviating the fear it has created in the minds of the people, given the previous record of the Taliban during their pre-rule when they issued regressive decrees. The rebel group ruled between 1996 and 2001, during which they barred women from taking up most jobs and girls from going to school.
According to a report in The New York Times, over the past two decades, the United States has invested more than $780 million to promote women’s rights in Afghanistan. Women began to join the army and police forces, and have held political positions since then. He also participated in the Olympics.
With the return of the Taliban, there are now fears that things will be back for women.
Over the past few days, residents of Kabul could be seen tearing up advertisements showing headless women.
There have also been reports of female journalists in Afghanistan seeking help from the world community as they feared for their lives under Taliban rule.
That’s why it’s important to see a female presenter interviewing a Taliban official in Tolonuz.
Why is ToloNews afraid of eventual censorship?
Tolo News shared on Monday that Taliban fighters broke into its compound in Kabul and checked the weapons of security personnel and collected government-issued weapons, for which several women journalists are working, and this particular Has not hesitated to present them. Screen.
Apart from Beheshta Arghand, he has shown a female reporter walking down the street.
In a tweet posted on Tuesday, the independent news media organization said the Taliban had agreed to secure its premises.
In addition to news programs, Tolo news shows include soap operas and reality shows, many of which do not align with the conservative Taliban ethos.
On Sunday, the Taliban spokesman mentioned above said that the media would be allowed to criticize anyone but should not indulge in character assassination.
However, Saad Mohseni, chief executive of Mobi Media Group, which oversees Tolo News, told the BBC that although the Taliban members were professional and courteous during their visit to the compound on Monday, they suspected that their station’s security was not being used. Content, especially entertainment, eventually face censorship.
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