Taliban suspends Radio Begum, Afghanistan’s only women radio station for violations

The Taliban's information and culture ministry restricted the radio station’s staff while it searched the premises situated in Kabul.

The information and culture ministry acknowledged the raid and suspension of the radio station due to alleged violations of “broadcasting policy and improper use of the station’s license”. (AP Photo/ Representational)

The Taliban has suspended Afghanistan’s only women radio station, Radio Begum, after it raided the premises on Tuesday in a step which could further undermine women from public life and society.

The Taliban, which took control of Afghanistan in 2021 after the US withdrawal from the territory, said the raid on Radio Begum station and its subsequent suspension took place due to “multiple violations”.

The Taliban’s information and culture ministry restricted the radio station’s staff while it searched the premises situated in Kabul.

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The officials seized computers, hard drives, files and phones from radio station’s staff and two male employees were taken into custody, who do not hold any senior management position, the Radio Begum said in a statement, as reported by AFP.

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The information and culture ministry acknowledged the raid and suspension of the radio station due to alleged violations of “broadcasting policy and improper use of the station’s license”.

The ministry added that the radio station was involved in the unauthorized provision of content and programming to a TV channel which is foreign based.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the suspension of the radio station and demanded that the decision be revoked immediately by the Taliban. The watchdog added that the Taliban shut down at least 12 media outlets, public and private, last year.

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Also Read | As Taliban ban education for women in Afghanistan, a school in New Delhi fights back

Radio Begum was founded on March 8, 2021 coinciding with the International Women’s Day which was five months before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan after US forces withdrew from the region.

The United Nations has called the various restrictions on women by the Taliban as “gender apartheid”.

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