A file photo of Afghan journalists courtesy Human Rights Watch
Geneva/Kabul: The Afghan media and journalist fraternity are going through their worst time in the last 20 years and many of them have fled their nation. Newspapers are missing from the stands across Afghanistan and many media managements have shifted to online space after the arrival of Taliban forces in the capital city of Kabul.
“Overall, a total of 150 newspapers/magazines out of 500 media outlets including television and radio channels and news agencies have closed in the past month. The space for independent press and freedom of expression is shrinking day by day,” said a report in Afghanistan Times, adding that the safety and security of scribes and overall financial problems have deteriorated the situation.
According to local media outlets, the press has been paralyzed particularly in Kabul, which is under the grip of Taliban once again after the fall of President Ashraf Ghani’s government on August 15, 2021. Before Taliban’s advent, the ancient city used to witness a number of newspapers and other media outlets which surfaced in the last two decades to cater to the need of readers, listeners and viewers.
Kabul alone had around 20 newspapers available to readers in English and local languages before the arrival of Taliban forces. There is a feeling in among the media fraternity in the country that unless the international community and the Taliban do not pay attention, the remaining media will also collapse very soon. Recently a group of around 150 Afghan journalists urged the United Nations and other international groups to ensure their protection with the backdrop of threats issued by the Taliban militants.
An Afghan journalist, pleading anonymity, revealed that the media fraternity has lost its female members as the Taliban regime is understood to maintain its harsh policy towards the women journalists all along.
Another Afghan journalist who has found refuge in Belgium during August told Nava Thakuria, the south and southeast Asia representative of Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) – the Geneva based global media rights body, that the freedom of expression of Afghan journalists who fled the country in August is also limited. “Due to the risks for my colleagues, who are still in Afghanistan, I can’t talk or write my own story now, probably another time, when they are also out of the country or at least there is no high risks for them,” he added.
Expressing serious concern on the growing security threats for professional journalists in the southeast Asian country, the PEC has called upon the United Nations and the
international community to urge the new government in Kabul to respect press freedom and the safety of journalists.
“Now the media persons are under severe security threats and financial crisis as most of the foreign governments & non-government offices have abandoned the country and their potential supporters have also disappeared,” said PEC general secretary Blaise Lempen.
– global bihari bureau
