Losing the battle to keep female flesh off Afghan TV

Female lawmaker Fawzia Kufi caused a hush followed by laughter among a group of parliamentarians last month when she interrupted a debate on banning female dancing on TV with the suggestion that authorities also ban racy images of men.

Still, the work of the pixilators goes on. Saad Mohseni, Director of Tolo TV, Afghanistan's biggest private TV network which mixes original programming and popular imported fare, said his station has an entire pixilation department.

"They pixilate many things, including 'too much flesh' and any thing (that) may contravene our religious, cultural and social norms," he said in an e-mailed response to questions.

"It naturally makes things a bit more complicated, but we accept that we need to have this procedure in place for Afghanistan."

(Editing by Peter Graff and Sanjeev Miglani)