Kunduz’s governor has instructed the province’s government departments to provide journalists with access to information.
Kunduz governor Mullah Nisar Ahmad Nusrat made the remarks at a joint press conference in Kunduz on Sunday.
“There have been some challenges and misery. We will ignore that. We promise from now on to help our people and serve them and we will cooperate with you (media),” he said. The conference was intended to address the chal-lenges faced by journalists in Kunduz.
The journalists welcomed the government’s efforts, saying that the people have the right to be aware of the activity of government institutions.
“We have been unable to take even one interview from one of the officials and publish it in weeks and months,” said Hakim Hasas, a journalist.
“The journalists need to have access to information on time. The events should not be kept secret,” said Abdul Jalil Ihsas, a journalist. The head of the provincial intelligence department, Mawlawi, urged the journalists to stick to journalis-tic standards. “The media organizations that raise the voices of the nation to the authorities, we stand with them,” he said.
This comes as the media watchdogs expressed con-cerns over the status of the journalists in Afghani-stan. According to the International Federation of Jour-nalists, around 50 journalists have been detained by the Islamic Emirate. Reporters Sans Borders in a report said that the Afghan journalists are facing increasing “harass-ment.” However, the Islamic Emirate denied the reports.
Earlier, the governor of eastern Laghman province in two separate decrees ordered government de-partments to assist the journalists in gaining access to information. —TOLO
