KABUL, April 22: Afghanistan’s most popular private television station, Tolo, defied a government deadline Tuesday to drop two hit Indian soap operas deemed to violate Afghan culture, saying the order was illegal.

Two other television stations have already cancelled shows that the culture ministry has ordered must not be aired, a decision backed by President Hamid Karzai Monday.

“We won’t ban our serials,” Tolo director Jahid Mohseni said. “The government action is illegal... it’s not based on law but on the personal opinion of the culture minister.”

The controversial minister, Abdul Karim Khurram, ordered five Indian serials to be pulled from television, saying he had received complaints from religious circles.

His spokesman, Hamid Nasery, reiterated on Tuesday that if all shows were not off air by Tuesday evening the ministry would take court action.

“If they don’t stop airing those serials, their cases will be referred to legal authorities,” Nasery said. The two soaps Tolo refused to drop are “Tulsi” and “Kasauti Zindagi Kay” (Tests of Life).

—AFP