Afghan leader says he backs ban on hit Indian soaps

KABUL: Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai on Monday defended a decision by his government to ban a handful of Indian soap operas, saying they violated his nation's moral standards and culture.

The culture ministry has given several privately run television stations until Tuesday to stop showing certain popular serials based on tales of love, disputes and the daily lives of Indian Hindu families.

At least one has already been taken off air after the ban, which authorities say was prompted by a call from religious scholars who labelled the shows "un-Islamic".

Asked about the move, Karzai told a media briefing his government was committed to media freedom.

But, "like the rest of the countries in the world, we want our television broadcasting to be in line with our culture, based on our society moral standards," Karzai said.

The serials show unveiled Indian women in waist-exposing sarees, sometimes blurred out for the Afghan audience, and couples on dates. Sometimes characters are seen worshipping Hindu statues, which also feature in the background.

Karzai said religious leaders and ordinary citizens had contacted him to complain about the programmes, which are shown across most of the more than a dozen stations that sprung up after the 2001 fall of the Taliban.

The hardline Taliban regime banned television and even images of living creatures as "un-Islamic."