It's an uneasy dance with the Taliban

When the first Taliban regime fell in 2001, several Afghans, exiled by years of war and conflict, made a trip back home. Among them was Saad Mohseni, son of an Afghan diplomat.

- SHUBHANGI SHAH

An ex-banker, he was living in Australia. “We talked for hours about the future of a country we had only just arrived in and that we all arrogantly imagined we would shape into anything we wanted,” he writes in Radio Free Afghanistan, a part memoir, which maps how Afghanistan's media landscape transformed through the two decades following the fall of Taliban.

Mohseni’s role in this was crucial. His Moby Group introduced FM, soap operas, reality TV, and talk and game shows in the country. Interestingly, while the Afghans started getting a hang of the newer forms of entertainment, what struck a cord was an Indian soap opera—Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Such was the success of the show that there were rumours as dramatic as the drama itself—weddings stopped playing music at 8.30pm so that the guests could watch the show, and a branch of the Kabul Bank was robbed as the guards glued to the show.

The Afghans soon grew a liking for Turkish shows. Mohseni’s TOLO launched Afghan Star, a singing reality show, and a soccer premier league, steering Moby Group to become Afghanistan’s largest media company.

With the Taliban back in power, there are many restrictions on media and entertainment. Music is banned, and so are women appearing on TV dramas. Female news presenters have to wear masks on air. Live broadcasts of political shows are also banned.

So how’s Afghanistan’s biggest media group coping? “People still watch soap operas, they still listen to music. Once it’s out, it’s hard to put the genie back in the bottle,” says Mohseni. “Afghans have been exposed to the new-age entertainment. We have OTT platforms, too. It is the 21st century; good luck trying to stop people from gaining access to entertainment.” Edited excerpts from an interview:

Q/ How is the current Taliban regime different from the previous one?