Indian serials banned, Kyunki Afghans say so

Wed, Apr 23 01:35 AM

'More Indian content please but not all of it.' While urging India to send more programming content, Afghanistan's Information and Culture Ministry has sought to impose a ban on some of the immensely popular Indian serials because they are deemed culturally inappropriate.

The extra-marital affairs and out-of-wedlock children that are being shown in some popular soap operas are being viewed as anathema in Afghanistan's culturally conservative society, prompting demands for the ban. Asserting that the ban on the serials was "not because they are Indian", Information and Culture Minister Abdul Karim Khurram told this correspondent in an exclusive interview that the reason for the ban was because of the increasing volume of public concern about the impact of these serials.

The changing storylines of the soaps have now brought content that is not acceptable to our public, Khurram said, adding that the demand for the ban had come not just from religious leaders but MPs and parents. The serials under the axe are Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kumkum, Intezar, Kasauti Zindagi Ki, and Baghdad Ka Dost.

With limited capacities of programming content, private TV channels in Afghanistan have relied heavily on Bollywood content for their programming. While some TV channels have already complied with the ban, Afghanistan's most popular TV channel Tolo TV, which telecasts Tulsi as Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi is known here and Kasauti Zindagi Ki, has defied the ban.

Tulsi by itself is a big revenue earner for the TV channel, its popularity unsurpassed in TV programming in this country.

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