No ban on Indian soaps in Afghanistan

Indian serials are very popular in Afghanistan and no ban has been imposed on their telecast despite "suggestions" on imposing certain restrictions, the country's Minister for Communications and Information Technology Amrzai Sangin said on Wednesday.

"All our television stations are running Hindi serials like Kasauti and Kyuki Saas Bhi Bahu Thi, which are very popular," Sangin said, reeling off the names of the Hindi soap operas with ease.

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"In Afghanistan there are 12 television channels. All of them are showing different Hindi serials. At least three Indian serials are being shown every day by the channels. They are also dubbed in local languages," he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on 'Connecting Rural Communities Asia Forum 2008'.

Recently, there was a suggestion from the Information Minister that there should be more local content in the programmes being telecast. The discussions are still going on but no decision on ban has been taken, he said.