Afghanistan Times
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Analysis especially its political form has had a good market in Afghanistan. This market is at the same age of the so-called ‘freedom of speech’—since the beginning of the West-backed government in 2001.
Since then, almost every TV and radio channel is running current affairs programs, inviting people from famous university professors to unknown and notorious individuals, jihadi figures, warlords, pro-Taliban, anti-US, educated, uneducated and even sometimes impolite people as analysts and experts.
These so-called analysts say whatever comes to their mind or which would please their supporters, because they feel no responsibility for the people and the country. One cannot find even a handful impartial people among the dozens of these analysts. Each of them is dependent on some domestic and foreign agencies. It can easily be guessed that with whom the analyst shares links and sympathies soon after he starts speaking.
In fact, the current affair programs are the scenes of verbal fights among the guests and some of them are kind of fun for the viewers. But a number of the analysts cross politeness and manner of speech. They insult each other to prove their devotion to the insider or outsider source. Attacking the ethnicities is one of the ways to provoke and challenge the rival, and sometimes, the analysts start physical fight with throwing punches, kicking, using the bottles of water and chairs to conquer the other side and prove their viewpoints when they are unable to do so through logical arguments.
Viewers watched such a program on a private news channel on Thursday night which ended with two of the analysts beaten and hurt.
One of the analysts was against the joining of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of Hezb-e-Islami to the government’s peace process, accusing him of killing innocents during the 1990s civil war. Another analyst who seemed to be Hekmatyar’s devotee was outraged and started personally and ethnically insulting his rival. Their verbal clash turned to a boxing match and they hit each other while keeping insulting.
As a principle, freedom of speech is the right of everyone. But this freedom is misused in Afghanistan, because we do not know about the culture of this freedom. People in other countries declare their viewpoints with very respect to the human-being and other humanitarian basis. They hardly criticize, but you will not hear any single word out of the politeness in their talks.
Personal insult is actually an insult to ourselves and disgrace to an ethnicity means that we insult our own ethnic group. We speak for the national unity, but we work for dividing the nation and we serve the enemies. Besides, we show the world that how impolite people we are.
As there is no government organ in charge of monitoring such programs and prevent anti-unity efforts, the media outlets are requested not to further endanger national unity. They should give priority to the national interests than their financial supporters.
