Vibrant Afghan radio reduced to religious relic

Radio station Urooj once teemed with journalists producing news bulletins, but since the Taliban came to town, Ebrahim Parhar sits alone, broadcasting hours of religious sermons.

Parhar launched Urooj, which means “The Rising” in Pashto, in the western city of Farah six years ago, carefully selecting a diverse range of programmes for an audience long deprived of media.

“We had religious, political, social, and music programmes,” he said, adding that up until two months ago, the station broadcast different programmes for 19 hours a day.

But when the Taliban swept to power midaugust, vowing to restore sharia law, everything changed.

“Unfortunately, of all the programmes, only one is left, which is religious,” said the clean-shaven 35-year-old with short, dark hair and piercing blue eyes, pouring tea at his desk loaded with broadcasting equipment.

“We prepare a playlist in the morning and replay it during the day because there is no live programming.”

He has had to sack all of his 18 employees, eight of them women.

“We have dismissed them all,” he said, pointing out that “all the contracts and advertisements we had are cancelled now”.

“If the current situation persists, it is very likely that we will need to close this radio station.”

Marya Sultani, a former news anchor at the station, said the Taliban’s arrival had dashed her dream of becoming a famous journalist in Farah province.

“That wish came true, and I became a journalist, but now with the return of (the Taliban), everything has come to an end,” the 25-year-old, wearing a black shawl over her head, said.

She sat in front of a large microphone in the sound-proofed studio where she used to work, during a visit to see her former colleague.

After working for five years as a journalist, she is now “unemployed and sitting at home”, terrified that she might face reprisal attacks for having worked as a journalist.

“I am afraid that someone may harm me,” she said. The Taliban, notorious for their brutal and repressive rule of the 1990s, had said they would respect women’s rights in line with sharia law, but nearly two months in, women have been largely prevented from working.

We prepare a playlist in the morning and replay it during the day because there is no live programming

EBRAHIM PARHAR