Afghanistan's Indian soaps provoke culture debate

KABUL (AFP) — "I'm not the father," Mehir Verani exclaims, accusing his virtuous wife Tulsi of having their son with another man.

Shocked, the beautiful woman throws her husband a tearful glance.

The music peaks ... and an episode of the most popular soap opera in Afghanistan ends, millions of viewers left hanging on for the next instalment in a tale many have followed since it first aired four years ago.

"I think this is another conspiracy against Tulsi," 50-year-old car-part salesman Noor Agha says of the Indian drama dubbed into Farsi. "I'm desperate to see how she will cope with it this time."

But just as Tulsi's honour was thrown into doubt, albeit only briefly, so has been the fate of the serial of the same name.

Islamic mullahs, backed by elements in the government, want it and others banned.

They say the serials and the hot topics they deal with -- such as Tulsi's alleged infidelity -- are corrupting Afghans as they emerge from the strict conservatism of the Taliban regime which banned television and movies.

Afghan culture has slunk towards a wannabe democracy comprising free media, pop music and fashion, they claim.

The information and culture ministry has ordered at least five Indian serials off the air. Most stations have complied but Tolo television has firmly refused to drop Tulsi which has been a ratings winner.

A showdown looms with the ministry referring the matter to the attorney general while the Mohseni family that runs the station says the ban is illegal and they will be prepared to go to court.

The influential clerics are unhappy in particular with women in the show: heavily made-up, they never cover their hair as all Afghan women do and wear Indian saris that expose arms and waists, pixellated out for Afghanistan.

The clerics also complain about depictions of Hindu idols and worship.

"In one scene a person bows to an idol. Don't you think this would have a negative impact on a child?" asks Egypt-educated cleric Hayaz Niazi from his Kabul mosque.

The serials also "step on" the custom of wearing a veil and show too much violence, he says, calling for television and media "based on our own culture and beliefs."

In a land scarred by decades of conflict, Tulsi offers Afghans an escape from their own hard lives with an insurgency raging and unemployment at 40 percent.

The Indian soaps portray romance and dating -- a taboo in Afghanistan where almost all marriages are arranged -- as well as heroism and the triumph of good over evil.

But some ordinary Afghans share the mullahs' concerns.

"When my kids see a kid worshipping a Hindu idol, demanding something from it and getting it right away, my kids will believe that can happen," says educated Kabul resident Bahram Sarway.

"I don't want them to forget the real God and go after stone-made gods," he says.

Tolo director Zaid Mohseni, who set up the station with US funding on his return from Australia after the 2001 ouster of the Taliban, scoffs at such arguments.

"To suggest that somehow people will suddenly stop being Muslims because of the airing of foreign content is not only short-sighted, but it is actually offensive to Muslims as it suggests that their faith is so fickle," he says.

He believes the ban -- which is being pushed by Information and Culture Minister Abdul Karim Khoram although others in his ministry distance themselves from it -- is partly politically motivated.

Pulling Tulsi from the schedules would mean a huge loss in advertising revenue which is financing other programmes, Mohseni says.

This includes hard-hitting and satirical news shows that are the only ones in the country prepared to criticise officials, including Khoram whom Tolo has repeatedly shown saying media freedom is "meaningless" and a Western import.

The government should be concentrating on more weighty matters, Mohseni says.

"We wish that issues such as corruption, poppy eradication, rule of law, how to attract investment and other important matters could be pursued with the same vigour by the government as this matter was," he says.

Media rights activists suggest President Hamid Karzai, who has expressed support for the ban, is trying to put pressure on media to please conservative elements ahead of an election next year.

"His popularity has suffered huge damage due to his failures in recent years, exposed by the free media," says Fahim Dashti, editor of the prominent Kabul Weekly and a spokesman for Afghanistan's National Journalists Union.

"I think he wants to stop media telling the people about his failures during the sensitive election campaign," he says.

"It also seems the president uses this to reflect himself as a good Muslim in an attempt to attract support from conservative circles and communities ahead of the elections."