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Meet Hasiba Atakpal, Afghan Journalist Out Reporting Despite Taliban Scare

At this crucial moment for Afghanistan, here's why you should know who is Hasiba Atakpal and about her female colleagues in journalism reporting amid fear.

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Tanvi Akhauri
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who is Hasiba Atakpal
Who is Hasiba Atakpal: Empowering visuals of women journalists, anchors and mediapersons resuming work two days into Taliban rule in Afghanistan are surfacing on social media. The world watches in awe as these women, despite the imminent anticipation and fears of pushback on their public rights, continue to bravely report live from ground zero.
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Hasiba Atakpal of TOLO News has become one of the leading faces of this resistance as she takes to the streets of the capital city of Kabul to report on television for her channel. Standing on a fairly desolate main road that has few passersby as Taliban terror restricts Afghan people, especially women, inside their homes, Atakpal goes on-air with details of the situation.

Big applause is resounding for Atakpal, as well as her other local and international journalism colleagues, who are persisting in the face of a cloudy future.

Why You Should Know Who Is Hasiba Atakpal, Other Afghan Journalists Of Courage

Media outlets like TOLO, the first 24/7 Afghan news channel, are currently at the forefront of live news broadcasts from the country. On August 16, a day after the Taliban took Kabul, reports emerged of the TOLO compound being searched by armed gunmen.

According to the news channel's own report, the Taliban "agreed to keep the compound safe." Directives from the Taliban so far reportedly mention that women will also be encouraged to partake in public life, study and hold political offices.

While several women journalists continue to stay in, many presenters returned to their jobs. This one interviewed members of the Taliban right in her newsroom.

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Meanwhile, others like Zahra Rahimi armed with their cameras and recording equipment are making it to news hotspots out of doors. A stark image is presented with her as a lone woman standing amidst a gathering of men.

Early this year in March reports by the Centre for the Protection of Afghan Women Journalists (CPAWJ) noted around 20 percent women journalists had left the field over a period of a year, in the wake of repeat attacks against them.

So even as work resumes in the shadow of the terror outfit's promises, voices on-ground tell us these could likely be empty claims in the long run. Similar fears abound with regard to women's participation in education and politics. What awaits?

 

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