In his first public appearance in about 20 years, Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar on Saturday addressed a crowd of supporters in Laghman in eastern Afghanistan where he described some media outlets as "cursed" and said they must stop promoting sedition and ethnic division.
But, the Ministry of Information and Culture (MoIC) struck back at Hekmatyar and said no official nor party could slap restrictions on the media in the country,
"No official, no faction and no party is allowed to put restrictions on the activities of the media," said Sayed Aqa Hussain Fazel Sancharaki, deputy minister of information and culture for publications.
In addition, NAI-Organization Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan said Hekmatyar's attacks on the media was an insult.
"I call on all people to come forward and close down the mouth of these cursed media (organizations) and let the people get rid of these media (outlets)... they (some media outlets) have been creating many many (acts of) sedition and are giving the war morale to the opponents and fueling disagreements and disputes between ethnicities," said Hekmatyar, referring to some media outlets.
"It is only two days since Hekmatyar arrived in Afghanistan and now he is attacking the media; I recommend that Mr. Hekmatyar should pursue an authentic and correct assessment of the media," said Najib Sharifi, the head of the Journalist's Safety Commission.
NAI has termed Hekmatyar's view point on media as an old and extremist view.
NAI says that Hekmatyar does not believe in democracy, press freedom and will try to put pressure on the media.
"We need to make every political party accountable and responsible to protect the gains we made at the cost of our blood over the past fifteen years - to honor them and respect them," said press freedom ambassador Nader Naderi.
"Mr. Hekmatyar has no idea about the changes that have come to the country, because a person who has hidden himself inside caves in the mountains is not in touch with the conditions of life over the past twenty years in society, therefore he needs to study this," said journalist Sanjar Suhail.
According to NAI, last year, thirteen journalists were killed in Afghanistan, which was declared the second deadliest country in the world for journalist after Syria. They said government needs to make sure no group is allowed to pressurize the media.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/6386
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