KABUL - A fresh deadline
seeking compliance with a ban on the five Indian
TV serials being broadcast by private Afghan TV
channels was due to end on Tuesday. The ban,
ordered by the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, has caused public controversy and a
strident clash between conservatives and liberals.
The truth is more multi-layered: not all those who
oppose the serials are doing so out of
conservative values, nor are the reasons for their
defense uniformly liberal.
The serials are
considered by critics to have content considered
"too modern" for Afghan audiences. Meanwhile, the
so-called values the shows portray are viewed as
regressive, even backward, in India. By positing
this case as a simple test of media freedom, there
is a danger of losing sight of
the
complexities that need to be
addressed to strengthen the independence of the
Afghan media.
The debate over the ban has
been described in private national media and the
international press as "the latest battle of the
long-simmering war between cultural conservatives
and liberals", as one reputed newspaper called it.
The reality is somewhat more complex. While
conservatives, including some of the religious
ulema, have been consistently pressuring
the government and TV channels to curtail any
content that goes beyond their interpretation of
Afghanistan's conservative social mores, in this
instance the demand for curtailing the soap operas
has more widespread support. The reasons for this
are two-fold.
The story lines of some of
the serials go beyond traditional family scenarios
to include complex relationships that are anathema
to Afghan families. Children born out of wedlock
and extramarital relationships are just two
salient examples. The second reason for the
criticism is that the serials have allegedly
become addictive to viewers, especially young
children.
"My daughter is worshipping her
dolls, setting then out in a row as she sees
people worshipping in the serials," a liberal
female member of parliament (MP)told a diplomat
when asked for her views. A senior political
figure - who has little sympathy for conservatives
- said his children were emulating scenes from the
popular Indian soap opera Tulsi. Meanwhile,
a senior government official said social customs
viewed in the serials were being emulated in
middle-class Afghani homes.
Liberal MP
Shukriya Barakzai told Asia Times Online that
while she did not support the ban - which she said
appeared to be a result of political machinations
- she felt there needed to be more indigenous
content on Afghan TV.
"Afghans have a rich
history and culture," she said. "The Ministry of
Information should make a strategy so that we have
our own serials or other programs. Otherwise, if
you ban Indian serials, some other serials, maybe
from Iran and not in keeping with our culture,
will take their place."
In India, soap
operas face strong competition from other forms of
programming as well as social and cultural
activities. But, in Afghanistan - especially its
urban areas - such alternatives are unavailable.
In fact, there is a disproportionate emphasis on
TV viewing; Afghan social customs place low
priority on family activities in public spaces,
leaving television as one of the foremost "family"
events.
Lack of indigenous programming has
also meant an over-reliance on foreign content.
Bollywood's serials, slickly produced with
engaging plots, have been gross earners for the
channels which broadcast them. The lack of a
strong and varied programming base has meant that
an unprecedented number of viewers watch serials
such as Tulsi, the most-watched of the five
Bollywood soaps that face a ban. The serials also
inhabit terrain that is culturally more familiar
to the Afghan viewer. Dubbing them in Dari, the
local language, has provided an additional comfort
factor which has resulted in an undue influence on
viewers.
It may be that the familiarity of
the customs, culture and values presented in the
shows is what's causing consternation. Because the
content comes from a similar culture, it has
greater impact and influence than content that is
completely alien, for example Hollywood products.
As such, the Indian soaps are understandably
influencing behavior patterns among Afghan
viewers.
A senior official of the Ministry
of Information and Culture (MIC) said he had
nothing against the Indian serials, but commented
that TV channels were showing them "too much". He
told Asia Times Online, "By going too far some of
the media organizations are closing even the
existing space for media freedom. If the
conservatives strike back forcefully even the
existing freedoms may be lost."
Information Minister Abdul Karim Khurram,
who is seen as a conservative, has argued that it
is not he, but a joint meeting of the Media
Commission, MPs, the ulema and media houses
that made the decision to ban the soaps. According
to Khurram, the decision constitutes a legal order
because the Media Commission was involved in the
meeting. Khurram also said the MIC would like new
legislation to regulate and limit the proportion
of foreign content in local media. The minister
declined to discuss what steps would be taken
should the MIC ban be flouted.
The
saas-bahu or "mother-in-law and
daughter-in-law" serials as they are called in
India, are watched by mostly conservative, urban
middle-class families. Most feminists and liberals
view the soap operas with distaste because they
allegedly stereotype male and female family roles
and present everyday life through the lens of
so-called "family values".
At best, the
saas-bahu soaps are viewed as
"traditional", and at worst anti-feminist and
regressive. The marketing of family values is
another reason why the serials appeal widely in
Afghanistan; their heavy focus on the family being
something to which many Afghans can relate.
Women outside the family structure have no
place in Afghan society. This is the main reason
why there has been little progress in the area of
gender rights, specifically in the provision of
protection mechanisms for female victims of
violence.
The most popular Afghan TV
channel, Tolo TV, has so far defied the ban on
Indian serials. Its owners have argued that they
were only following public demand. A journalists'
union has called for a meeting with President
Hamid Karzai, Khurram, directors of Afghan
television and representatives of the Council of
Religious Scholars to "find a moderate solution
for the problem".
While pushing for
greater leeway over the right to broadcast these
five Indian serials, journalists need to be
careful about who they invite to the table. A
media commission, charged with arbitrating on
media content, already exists, but needs to be
strengthened through wider civil society and media
representation. To invite others, including the
president, the minister of information and the
ulema to decide the fate of the serials
would set a precedent that would make them
legitimate stakeholders in any decision-making on
media content in the future.
At a time
when the media law is on hold, and there is
continuous pressure from religious leaders, the
government and the Taliban, the media need to
emphasize the importance of the rule of law rather
than arbitrary decisions in regard to televised
content. The debate over these five serials also
loses sight of the complexities of media content
and survival, issues that need to be addressed to
strengthen an independent media as well as larger
progressive rights.
Debate over
democratic, political and human rights - including
women's rights - is being increasingly dismissed
as "Western" or alien. An editorial published in
the government-owned newspaper Kabul Times
provided an apparent justification for domestic
violence against women, arguing that nagging women
provoked their husbands and other male family
members to "beat them black and blue". The
editorial passed without any remark from any
member of the government.
Today there is
greater intolerance in Afghanistan. Specifically
in the expression of progressive social, cultural
and political mores and also for democratization.
The international community, fearful of losing its
leverage, has tiptoed around these issues, taking
refuge in the all-encompassing pretext of
"cultural propriety".
The current debate
over the Indian soaps needs to take into account
the complexities of the issue. It must
differentiate between conservative opposition,
parental concern and the government's use of this
issue as a tool to gain greater control over the
media and to tame private media by hitting them in
the pocket.
Any discussion should consider
the need for more varied programming, indigenous
content and financial viability. By lumping all
opposition to the Indian family dramas into one
basket and losing sight of the complexities, those
espousing more progressive values could walk right
into a trap that would help affirm larger space
for cultural intolerance.
Aunohita
Mojumdar is an Indian journalist
currently based in Kabul. She has reported on the
South Asian region for 18 years and has covered
the Kashmir conflict and post-conflict situation
in Punjab extensively.
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