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Do you threatened by the Taliban, by sort of, more, you know, extremist groups in Afghanistan
because of, you know, they would object to the very existence of a media group like yours
in Afghanistan. Do you find pressure from them?
Yeah, well... Threats from violence and so forth?
Threats from the Taliban, from the Harkari network, we're not particularly liked in Iran,
we have been threatened by the regime there. I mean, this is what we've signed up for.
I mean, we went into these really volatile countries because there were no barriers to
entry, we saw significant potential in terms of the, you know, typically in terms of these
markets which are growing 10, 15%. The advertising market's growing three times the GDP growth,
Right. So there's enormous potential and the whole
formula for us is to get in, you know, have enough diversity that even if one of these
countries goes, you know, belly-up that we could, you know, prosper as a business. So
for us, we accept these risks. They exists. We do take them seriously but you know, for
us, we offering the carnal narrative of what the Taliban are offering.
Saad, let me ask you something about social media. We've seen in a lot of developing region
in our country, Indonesia being the prime example; social media, Twitter is particular
and Facebook too, Twitter in particular in Indonesia has been very, very big. Is there
social media uptake in the markets you're operating in and how significant is that?
It's very significant. I mean, one of the things is that we have a 60% market share
in Afghanistan. Market share of what?
Television. Of media: television, radio and so forth.
Right. And we've always felt very comfortable saying
that people are not going to say bad things about us because we dominate the media, but
you know, we've noticed that when people say bad things about us on Facebook, you know,
everyone gets a read it. We gone from zero in, you know, people's access to Facebook
to a million in less than two years, I believe. But internet access has gone from zero to
six million in Afghanistan in two years, mostly because of 3G. Most people now access the
internet, and Facebook and Twitter using a mobile device. So the world is changing and
we're noticing that we have to be also, you know, we have a very, very proactive social
media department, it's called, a team or unit that also attempts to engage our viewers and
listener through social media. Very, very effective.
Do you think that growth of social media is contributing to, or having any impact, positive
impact on the whole democratisation process in Afghanistan and the other markets in which
you operate? Well, I see it as a victim of social media,
you know we've all been victims over the years, I don't know. The jury's still out because
it's very difficult to filter what's good and bad and especially when people are so
conspiratorial in our neck of the woods, it can have a negative impact, but I think longer
term, I mean, whenever you have people being able to communicate, it's a good thing. But
media overall whether its social media or digital media or television or radio, I mean
it has to a large extent facilitated social change in our neck of the woods.
Now, you've been described as the Rupert Murdoch of Afghanistan,
That's just comical. Fox has a shareholding in your company, but
minority shareholding, Yes.
But with all of that, with you keen interest in politics, could you follow the footsteps,
not in any licentious manner of course but could you follow the footsteps of Berlusconi
who started off with a very large share of the Italian media market and then move into
politics? Why not politics Saad? Yeah, I don't know how to answer that question
but maybe he's not the best example. No, I think we can play a really important role
as a, you know, media operators in the region. I think that, you know, there are a lot of
barriers right across the region, I think media can play quite a significant role in
terms of, whether you're facilitating social change or making people aware of things and
giving people a voice, you know, I think we have a real battle. I think that the radicalisation
of the region, I mean, although I think it's going to reverse at some stage, but it's a
scary thing, not just for the region, but the entire world. And people like us have
a responsibility because the region was never this radical. You know, and ironically, it
all started off in Afghanistan. During the Soviet occupation, the more radical Islamic
elements were pushed with Saudi money and Pakistani backing, and the entire region,
south Asia in particular, which was always like, into Sufi Islam, very mild and very
sort of spiritual Islam into this radical, Wahabi hardcore, you know, ideology that's
totally alien to us. But we've seen that, not just in Afghanistan and Pakistan, we're
seeing this form of Islam become more dominant now in Syria, in Lebanon, in North Africa,
What is its appeal though? It seems from a western perspective, so ascetic, so unyielding,
or distinctly unattractive. Because I think the leaders are... their strong
believe in their ideology basically compels them to take a more active role. If you're
a spiritual Sufi type Muslim, you don't have a leadership. It's an inner thing between
you and God. It's a very personal matter, but for these people, it's, you know, part
of the ideology is the religion becoming more, you know, playing a more dominant role in
the politics of a country. You know, there's a huge link between politics and religion,
and a lot of these people, I think that there was no outlet for them. Most of these Islamic
countries were dominated by tyrants and dictators. So this became sort of the only option for
a lot of these young activists in universities and schools.