Progress and Pitfalls of “Peace-Building”

in Afghanistan continues...

By contrast, the development of television in Afghanistan has been

slow. According to most estimates, one-third of the Afghan population

has access to television and all attempts at reforming the state-owned

Afghan television have been abandoned. Many in the Ministry of Culture and Information believe that privatisation might be the last resort for

white elephants such as Afghan TV and the Bakhtar news agency, another

subsidiary of the information ministry. With USAID funding, Arman

FM had started Afghanistan’s first independent commercial TV channel,

Tolo TV, in early October 2004. Nevertheless, television is extremely

popular, particularly in the urban areas. And politics in democracies rely

to a large extent on mass media, especially television, and on

communicative strategies borrowed from entertainment and

advertisements. The importance of culture, then, increases as areas of life

previously thought to be independent of it, begin to fall under its

influence. Television, movies and other forms of popular culture tend to

80

replace traditional symbolic figures in the society.

(b) Women’s empowerment: There has been a positive change in the

status of women in the last few years as women have gained tangentially

and benefited in crucial areas like education and political participation.

Although Afghan women now enjoy more liberties and freedom of

81 movement, they seek greater rights and opportunities. However, the

new government in Afghanistan does not seem to be keen and pro-active

at the ground level in women’s advancement and upliftment perhaps

because they do not want to alter the social patriarchal norms and

inherent gender biases, in fear of a social rebuff. Though rights to equality

and freedom have been guaranteed to women under the new

constitution, these remain largely on paper. From the interviews

conducted it was found out that although the patriarchal male mindset is

yet to change, however, some Afghan men encourage women’s education,

political participation and liberty to move freely with a hejab (veil), not

the all-enveloping blue burqa (an garment which provides cover) which was mandatory during the Taleban period.

To be continued.....