At an Independence Day rally in Pashtunistan Square in Kabul, Taliban fighters mobilized to control the crowd raising the flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times
- An Afghan journalist said that because of the Taliban’s control of Afghanistan, she was banned from working on television.
- Shabnam Dawran said in a video circulating on social media that her life was threatened.
- The Taliban occupied the capital Kabul.
A female Afghan journalist said that after the Taliban took control of the country, she was banned from working on television and asked for help in a video posted online.
Wearing a headscarf and showing her office business card, the famous news anchor Shabunan Dharran said in a clip on social media that “our lives are threatened.”
Under the Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001, women were excluded from public life, girls were not allowed to go to school, recreational activities were prohibited, and cruel punishments were imposed.
In recent months, in a wave of assassinations before militants took over the country, female journalists have also become targets of militants.
However, since seizing power in the Lightning Offensive, the Taliban claimed that women will have rights including education and work, and that the media will be independent and free.
A Taliban official even sat down to conduct a one-on-one interview with a female reporter on TV to emphasize this point.
But Dawran, who had worked as a reporter for the Afghan state-owned broadcaster RTA for 6 years, said this week that she was barred from entering her office, while male colleagues were allowed to enter.
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She said in the video: “I did not give up after the system change and went to my office, but unfortunately, despite showing my office card, I was not allowed.”
“Male employees, those with office cards are allowed to enter the office, but I was told that I cannot continue my work because the system has changed.”
Dawran then pleaded with the audience: “Those who listen to me, if the world hears my voice, then please help us, because our lives are threatened.”
Those sharing this video include Miraqa Popal, editor of Tolo News, the 24-hour Afghan channel.
“The Taliban did not allow my former colleague of @TOLOnews and the famous anchor of the state-owned company @rtapashto Shabnam Dawran to start her work today,” Popal wrote in a tweet on Wednesday, which was shared thousands of times .
In a tweet on Tuesday, Popal posted a photo of a female news anchor on Tolo with the text: “We resumed the broadcast of the female anchor today.”
