KABUL (SW) – Despite loud claims from the Islamic Emirate officials, the access to information remains severely restricted as proven once again following a deadly blast inside Kabul International Cricket Stadium last week.
On Friday, the explosion inside the stadium and then on Sunday several rockets hit parts of the city, but no details have been shared with the media.
The lack of response by the Islamic Emirate’s spokespersons in relation to Sunday’s incident and conflicting reports of the number of casualties due to the explosion inside the stadium has been met with criticism.
Salam Watandar alone has made at least 22 requests for information to the Islamic Emirate authorities in July, but only six got responded.
A number of local journalists have also criticized the existing problems in regard to the access to information.
Elaha Azimi, one of the journalists, said that the access to information is getting restricted day by day. “When we contact the government sources, they are not ready to answer and in other cases they do not provide us with the correct information. For example, there was an explosion this morning, but we were not given the right information.”
Sanobar Parsa, another journalist, said journalists are facing limitations and lack of access to information. “Accessing information is an important part of our work, but there are limitations in this area. For example, there is no one to give us information about the nature of today’s incidents.”
On the other hand, the institutions that support journalists and the media also criticize the lack of access to correct information in the country and demand attention from the government in this regard.
Zarif Karimi, the head of NAI, told Salaam Watandar that although the lack of access to information has been a challenge for many years, since the Islamic Emirate came to power, restrictions on journalistic activities have increased.
“Despite the many promises of the government, unfortunately we still see a lack of access to information.”
ENDS
