86 RADIO STATIONS SHUTDOWN IN AFGHANISTAN SINCE TALIBAN TAKE OVER.

As February 13 marks the Unites Nation’s World Radio Day, Afghanistan is suffering as 86 radio stations ceased operations in the past six months since the Taliban took control of the nations.  

Media watchdog said that financial and political issues were the main reason for the decline of the Afghan media, Tolo News reported. 

Recent political changes in Afghanistan following the fall of the Republican government have severely affected the Afghan media. Radio Jahan is one of the dozens of radio stations that have ceased operations since last August, Tolo News reported.   

“Due to severe economic challenges, radio Jahan has stopped broadcasting for more than six months,” said Mosawar Rasikh, head of Radio Jahan.

“About 70% of Radio stations in the country are closed. The reason is economic challenges and broadcasting programs – in the current situation, on the other hand, the government insists on collecting taxes from radio stations,” said Shafiullah Azizi, head of Zamzama radio station. 

Based on the data, more than 300 different types of media organizations have been shut down since the Taliban came to power in August, Tolo news reports. 

Our findings suggested that if the international community does not provide financial support to the media, many of these radio stations will be shut down within the next six months – this reflects the decline of the media in the country, said Hojatullah Mujadidi, Head of the Afghan Independent Journalist Association.  

 Although media equipment has evolved technologically in many ways, radio is still one the primary sources of information of people in some countries, as reported by Tolo News. 

We have a lot of memories from the radio; there was a time when listing radio was banned. When we listened to the radio, we would ask a person to watch; we had to listen to it secretly, Mangal, a resident of Wardak, said.  

When I was a kid, a radio device was brought into our village; I thought there were people inside the radio, said Abul Salim, a Wardak resident. 

Radio in Afghanistan was introduced in 1926 during the reign of former Afghan king Amanullah Khan. The name of the first Radio Station was Broadcast in Kabul.

Published By: Jaspreet Singh

Edited By: Kritika Kashyap