A show on Afghanistan's Tolo TV has raised controversy for showing music videos that some of the country's conservatives say were too sexual.
The show, "Hop," features hosts who spend several minutes debating such hot topics as whether the chicken or the egg came first, and whether people dream in color, the Chicago Tribune reported. However, in between segments, the men play music videos that sometimes contain suggestive content.
"Watching a woman with half-naked breasts and a man and a woman sucking each other's lips on TV, like on Tolo, is not acceptable," said Abdul Malik Kamawi, spokesman for the Afghanistan Supreme Court.
The show's controversy touches on a larger issue facing the Afghan people: trying to balance democratic freedoms with a largely conservative Islamic society, the Tribune said.
The country's constitution protects freedom of expression, but prohibits anything that is against Islam. That clause has lead to disagreements such as the one over "Hop," because viewers have varying ideas of what violates the tenets of Islam.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
