Over the past two decades, Afghan women have played a decisive role in raising awareness and empowering society through media and education. Mubina Khairandish — a former lecturer at Balkh University, former director of Radio Rabia Balkhi, and founder of the Bidari (Awakening) Academy experienced a significant part of this journey up close. She has consistently stood at the forefront of media and cultural work, from managing one of the first media outlets dedicated to women in northern Afghanistan to training a new generation of female journalists. Mubina Khairandish is now based in Germany.
In this interview, Mubina Khairandish speaks with Sofia Malek of Zan Times about the achievements of women in media, training young journalists, the days of Taliban takeover, migration, women’s mental health issues, and her new work in coaching and positive psychology. Beyond recounting the past, this conversation is also a reflection on the future of Afghan women.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Zan Times: Ms. Mubina Khairandish, welcome to this conversation with Zan Times.
Khairandish: Greetings to you and to Zan Times’ dear and valued readers, and thank you for providing this opportunity for conversation.
ZT: You spent years at the forefront of Afghanistan’s media activity — from managing Radio Rabia Balkhi to training a new generation of journalists, especially women. Looking back at those years today, what was women’s greatest achievement in media?
Khairandish: When I look back, the past comes to mind like a film whose story holds both tears and smiles. At that time, we had just emerged from years of war, darkness, and ignorance; we were trying to make up for the years we had lost. I take pride in the achievements of that period — achievements that still give voice to women today.
The greatest achievement of those purposeful years was building the capacity of an aware generation that includes both today’s listeners and today’s media workers. They are the result of the attention and effort of that time, and today their presence is a source of pride for a silent society they serve by providing information — they are the eyes and ears, the voice of their people.
ZT: How did your experience managing Radio Rabia Balkhi, one of the few media outlets dedicated to women in northern Afghanistan shape your view of the media’s role in women’s empowerment?
Khairandish: Radio Rabia Balkhi was not only the first media outlet dedicated to women in northern Afghanistan and Balkh province, but also a place of training and information for young women and the listeners of this audio medium. The purpose of creating this outlet was also to build capacity and raise awareness among women in society. We saw its impact through various programs, broadcast schedules, and annual surveys. We supported women working in media whose families would not otherwise allow their daughters to work in media. In the same way we became a voice alongside women who had legal cases and spoke out against violence against women.
ZT: In addition to managing media, you spent years teaching journalism at Balkh University and at Nai (a media support organization in Afghanistan). When you think about the fate of your female students after the Taliban’s return, what do you feel most, and which memory still stays with you?
Khairandish: If I tell you the honest feeling behind the answer to this question — even now, in exile, when I go back to the past, I remember that the students of the Balkh journalism faculty would sometimes, between class hours, ask me to recount the experiences of the first period of Taliban rule and the bitter experiences that I and my peers had lived through. I always remember saying, during these conversations: “God forbid that those days should ever again be the fate of our people” — but deep down, a disbelieving feeling told me there was no doubt that, amid these tainted dealings and policies, people would once again witness those bitter experiences.
I still cannot believe how those days were repeated again. Even my former female students still bring up those days in the messages they send me. And when girls speak of the closed doors of universities and schools, it brings back the dark days I experienced myself as a student.
ZT: Aside from the political dimension, the fall of Afghanistan halted the professional lives of thousands of women. How did you experience those days, and what led you to decide to continue your work outside Afghanistan?
Khairandish: Even a year before the fall, the fruitless efforts [to warn of the looming crisis] already spoke of an impending disaster. Because we later realized that no matter how much civil society activists, media, and an aware society raised their voices in small and large gatherings about the deteriorating situation, those responsible and the international community listened less and less.
Signs of the fall were visible, but until the day Kabul fell, no one believed it — and I myself was in Kabul at that time. That heavy collapse caused thousands of women like me to become refugees outside the country. Thousands of other women lost their jobs inside the country. After August 15, neither I nor any woman was the same as before.
ZT: Many Afghan women today are living through what their mothers’ generation also endured in the 1990s. Have you heard accounts of that era within your own family, and how do you think these accounts have shaped your understanding of women’s current situation?
Khairandish: Unfortunately, I myself witnessed those dark days; that was also the reason for my migration — I could no longer bear to relive those bitter experiences again. Poverty, illness, destitution, and, on top of that, the closing of university and school doors to women — these were among the hardships I witnessed firsthand. Whenever any compatriot, especially women, complains about their current life, I understand what they are going through with my whole being.
ZT: Today your work has shifted from media toward positive psychology, coaching, and creating the Bidari Academy. What experience led you to conclude that Afghan women need this kind of support?
Khairandish: Thank you for raising this l — it was precisely my own experience after migration: how much pain a woman like me suffered, how much I experienced the feeling of loneliness, and how I lost my self-confidence. It took three years for me to find myself again, and I gave this process of coming back to life a name: “Bidari” [awakening].
I realized how many other women there are who, even now, five years after migration, are still in pain. This led me to undertake professional coaching and personal development training with a positive-psychology instructor, so that I could share this awareness with other women. At the very least, every woman in migration could rebuild herself and regain trust and value in herself. Fortunately, the online programs and coaching sessions I have launched under the name Bidari Academy have received the attention and support of many women.
ZT: In your programs, you use the phrase “from survival to flourishing.” What does this concept mean for an Afghan woman in migration, and how can one move beyond the stage of mere survival?
Khairandish: That’s an important question. When I began my professional training, I learned, in the course of it, what survival and flourishing actually mean. And understanding this made me realize that, throughout the wars and upheavals, Afghans as a whole lived in survival mode.
Living in survival mode produces certain behaviours but moving to flourishing requires skills and awareness that can be developed through practice. Afghan women in migration — and even women inside the country — urgently need this awareness and the skills of personal growth and development. This is something that must be addressed, including through webinars and self-discovery programs designed to help them.
ZT: How much do you agree with the view that focusing on personal growth and mental health, without changing political and social conditions, has limited effect? What is your opinion on this?
Khairandish: I can agree with this view to some extent, but I want to add that personal growth and attention to mental health is like any other responsibility — we have to care for ourselves and our mental health. Through self-discovery and personal growth programs, we can take this care seriously.
Nowhere in the world are conditions such that we can receive peace from the outside. We must preserve our inner peace under any circumstances.
ZT: Tell us about the Positive Circuit program. How can these projects help women inside Afghanistan who face extensive restrictions?
Khairandish: The Positive Circuit program is a personal development and positive psychology program from the Bidari Academy. It is broadcast every two weeks on the newly created Pazhwak television. It focuses on self-recognition and attention to the individual — meaning that every person can, in accordance with their own human values, pay attention to themselves. And in fact, this attention to oneself, to one’s own abilities and skills helps us reduce many of life’s worries.
ZT: Given the severe restrictions on media in Afghanistan, are you still hopeful about women’s return to journalism? How do you see the future of women’s media?
Khairandish: Although the media today operates under severe restrictions and is forced into self-censorship, experience has proven that people, no matter how deep the darkness, eventually reach their awakening and offer that light to others.
Yes, I believe that one day these oppressive policies will come to an end; women and girls will once again take their place in society, with authority and strength.
ZT: If you were to launch a radio station or media outlet dedicated to Afghan women again today, how would it differ from your media work over the past decade?
Khairandish: If I were to create a media outlet for women again, the difference would be this: before, we worked to raise awareness; now, we would speak about women’s power, and I would help women recognize their own power, both individually and within society. This is exactly what I am doing now through Bidari Academy: every woman is a power, and if she believes in her own power, the world will bow to her. The day is not far off when Afghan women, too, will reclaim this power, and we will stand together.
ZT: Many Afghan female journalists are now either in exile or have abandoned media work altogether. In your view, what is the most important responsibility of the international community and media institutions toward this generation?
Khairandish: Sincere support. Although host countries always support their workforce according to their own labor needs, if they are willing to accept responsibility toward Afghanistan and Afghan women, then supporting women journalists and purposeful media outlets in exile could be a ray of hope for tomorrow and for the next generation. At the very least, the cycle of information should not be restricted. Although we do have active media working openly inside the country, their work is done under the strict control and censorship of the current rulers. In exile, at least this freedom of information exists, and this support could also help guarantee that flow of information.
ZT: If you wanted to send a message to Afghan girls whocarry the dream of becoming journalists or making a social impact, what would you say?
Khairandish: I want to say that life and destiny taught me that under any circumstances, one must not lose sight of having a clear goal. If dear women are interested in working in the media, opportunities for training and gaining awareness still exist. The internet is the simplest path to learning, and books are the best friend. So always stay curious and searching, and let that curiosity guide you toward your goal. Be certain that this spirit of searching will bring you to your goal.
ZT: Ms. Khairandish, is there anything you feel we haven’t covered in this conversation?
Khairandish: My final word for dear women is this: Under all circumstances, love yourselves, preserve your own worth, so that others may see you and believe in you as well.
ZT: Ms. Khairandish, thank you for your warm presence in this conversation.
Khairandish: Thank you to you and to Zan Times for the opportunity you gave me for this interview.
Sofia Malek is a pseudonym used by a Zan Times journalist in Afghanistan.
