A news anchor, he was; Now he sells food on the streets of Taliban Afghanistan to survive

Afghanistan has been through a lot since the Taliban seized power over a year ago. For good cause, there have been innumerable news headlines lamenting the terrible situation of women’s rights. However, one aspect of the country’s decline has largely gone unnoticed: the fall of society’s watchdogs. A recent tweet gave some insight on the plight of journalists in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Kabir Haqmal, a former Hamid Karzai administration employee, posted photographs of a street food seller who he recognized as former newscaster Musa Mohammadi. He claimed that since the Taliban’s ascension to power, Musa has been driven into poverty.

Haqmal posted images of Musa from his ‘good old days’ as a news presenter as well as current ones of him selling food on Afghan streets ‘Life as a journalist in #Afghanistan under the #Taliban. Musa Mohammadi worked as an anchor and reporter on many TV networks for years and now has no money to support his family. & earns money by selling street food. After the dissolution of the republic, Afghans face unparalleled destitution’.  Wasiq replied in Urdu, saying Musa will be hired ‘within the framework of National Radio and Television.’

His tweet basically translates as ‘Musa Mohammadi’s unemployment as a speaker for a private television network emerges on social media. Indeed, as the director of the National Radio and Television, I tell him that he will be appointed within the framework of the National Radio and Television. All Afghan professionals are required’.  While Haqmal’s tweet may have saved Musa, it begs the question, ‘What about the rest?’ There will surely be more journalists and experts from other disciplines who pay the price for this administration transition. Who will assist them?

According to a World Bank assessment, income in Afghanistan has fallen to the point that 37% of Afghan households do not have enough money to meet their basic requirements, while 33% can buy food but not much else. According to Reuters, if current trends continue, Afghanistan’s real GDP per capita would decrease by around 34% between the end of 2020 and the end of 2022, undoing all progress gained since 2007.