The Haqqani network killed more than ten reporters and employees of Tolo News, but the head of this television went to bow to Sirajuddin Haqqani.
Author: Rustam Rushangar, analyst, especially for Sangar
Look at this photo. The man standing to the right of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the four-star terrorist, is the head of Tolo News. The man standing to Haqqani's left is the head of Ariana News. The rest are all media directors and media managers. They are all Pashtuns. They went to visit Sirajuddin, who had arrived from Hajj.
A few questions:
Why should the heads of Tolo News and Ariana News be Pashtuns?
These two TVs are the largest Persian language media outlets that have become famous in the Persian language and culture and consider themselves their defenders. But their leaders are Pashtuns and comrades of the Haqqanis. This is a great shame for the owners of Tolo and Ariana and all the media that have gained fame and authority among the people under the name of a free press. By placing Pashtuns at the head of their media, their owners betrayed the Persian speakers. Journalists Tolo and Ariana are said to be under intense pressure. They are required to prepare their news and reports according to the wishes of the Taliban using Pashtunwali literature and, of course, to distance themselves from the Persian language and Persian people. I heard all this, but after looking at this photo, I realized that the Persian journalists of these media are really in a difficult situation.
Why would top media executives go to meet a government official or congratulate someone returning from Hajj? State power that lacks legitimacy. This man is a four-star terrorist, and there is a ten-million-dollar reward for information on his whereabouts. Nowhere in the world is there such a custom and tradition that media managers go to a government official, kiss his hands, and flatter him. This is just a tribal Pashtun tradition. All over the world, the media has a tense relationship with the government, as they always criticize it and, respecting their professional honor, always keep their distance from the governments, the powerful and the rich, to maintain their moral competence in criticizing the government. This is the case in most democratic governments that enjoy popular legitimacy. There is a clear disconnect between the government and the media. But this is Afghanistan. Nothing has a clear boundary.
Tolo News is a media outlet, and more than a dozen of its journalists and employees were killed in the Haqqani network attacks, it turns out that the head of Tolo News is a friend of the killer of these people.
When the heads of major Persian-language media outlets bow to fascism and terrorism, is it logical to blame the cricketers, who are all Pashtuns and Pakistanis, for taking a selfie with Haqqani? Athletes run on all fours towards the one who is cheering them on. But people have the right to ask so-called journalists and heads of seemingly free media why they bow down to terrorists. Don't they know their mission and responsibility? Don't they have obligations to the people? So why do these media call themselves “free”? The terrorist group uses the presence and activities of these seemingly free media outlets for propaganda purposes. The Taliban are said to have reformed and allowed free media to operate. The presence of these media is a scabbard for the bloody sword of terrorists, which every day sucks the blood out of our defenseless people.
Shame on us! Shame on the people who do not distinguish the line between their killer and their defender.
