Najia Sorosh, right, head of Seday-e- Banowan, a women-run radio station speaks with her colleagues in the radio studio in Faizabad, the capital of northeast Bakhashan province. AP
March 31, 2023
Faizabad, Badakhshan - The Saday-e-Banwan [Women's Voice] radio station in Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan province in northeastern Afghanistan, has faced closure due to allegations of playing music during the holy month of Ramadan, as reported by local authorities.
Hekmatullah Mohammadi, the Director of Information at the Information and Culture department in Badakhshan province, explained that the station has been taken off the air indefinitely for broadcasting "songs during Ramadan." He stated that the station had repeatedly violated the "laws and regulations of the Islamic emirate" by playing music during Ramadan, and therefore had to be shut down.
Najia Sorosh, the head of the radio station, reported, "Yesterday, representatives from the Ministry of Information and Culture and the Vice and Virtue Directorate arrived at our radio station and closed it down. Our broadcasts have been halted, and they justified it by citing the broadcasting of music. In reality, our technician mistakenly aired an Arabic Na'at (religious poetry in praise of the prophet, Muhammad PBUH) during the holy month of Ramadan."
Since taking control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have banned music on television and radio channels.
The Afghanistan Journalists Cente(AFJC) has expressed concern over the significant reduction in independent media space in Afghanistan, citing the closure of the Saday-e-Banowan station in Faizabad as an alarming development. AFJC emphasized that the closure violates Afghan media laws and called on the authorities to allow the station to resume its operations.