The Talk of Kabul: Women Sing on Television

There has been only one topic being discussed on the streets of Kabul these days: the recent reappearance of female singers on television.

"Hearing such songs refreshes the soul," enthused Amanullah, who sells leather coats in the centre of the capital, after the first appearance in over a decade of a female vocalist on local television.

Ahmad Shoib, a young man who earns a living selling cosmetics from a small handcart, said his whole family now eagerly gathers before the television.

"Broadcasting women's songs on TV represents a step forward for the country," he said. "Every night, late, we sit waiting for female singers on television."

Others are more circumspect with their opinions.

"It is a good thing that female singers are broadcast on TV but they should be in hijab [covered except for their face and hands]," said Saliha, who works in the transport coordination office for Radio Television Afghanistan, RTA.

And there are those who still deeply opposed to the raising of female voices.

"The people of Afghanistan are Muslim and it is an Islamic country and we did jihad because of these things," argued businessman Mohammad Mustafa Zadran. "We believe in female rights but under Islamic law, women are for the house, not for display or show outside."

The first broadcast happened without fanfare on January 12, when an old video featuring popular singer Salma, crooning a romantic song while wearing a headscarf, was aired on Afghan airwaves.

The debate and controversy that followed points to the continuing struggle between liberal and conservative authorities in Afghanistan.

Last year, after a video of a woman singing appeared on television, the supreme court reiterated the ban on such broadcasts that stretches back to at least 1992.

Members of the court had an equally strong reaction to the latest broadcast.

Fazal Ahmad Manawi, the first deputy of the supreme court told IWPR, "Singing with music is not allowed for women in Islam and the ministry of information and culture should respect the judiciary, [the Islamic provisions of] the constitution and national traditions of Afghanistan."

A stern directive was sent by the head of the supreme court, Al-Haj Fazal Hadi Shinwari, to the ministry of culture and information, which controls RTA, demanding that the station should "apologise and those responsible should be questioned".

Not everyone agrees with the court’s position.

Arzo, a tenth grade student, said she was happy to see a woman singing on television and can’t understand conservative opposition to the move.

"There are a lot of sins [crime] in the country," she said. "Why does the supreme court waste time on this issue?"

The broadcast of the controversial tape was preceded by the replacement of RTA’s conservative head, Engineer Ishaq, by the more liberal Ghulam Hassan Hazrati. Hazrati had previously been in charge of RTA’s radio section, which has broadcast female singers since the fall of the Taleban in 2001.

Shahbuddin Terakhel, who was working as the announcer the night Salma’s clip was broadcast, said he was as surprised as anyone when he learned that the tape was to be broadcast.

He said that he has received only supportive calls following the broadcast. "People asked, 'Was that a mistake or will Afghanistan television broadcast more songs [by women]?’" he said.

RTA management has refused comment on the issue. But it appears that the broadcaster's change in policy is here to stay. One or two clips of female singers is being featured on television most evenings.

The tapes being shown so far are all more than a decade old.

Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, female singers regularly appeared on Afghan television. But once the mujahedin expelled the Soviet troops, appearances on television by female singers were banned. The leader of that government, Sibghatullah Mujadiddi, who served as acting president of a unity government in 1992, recently chaired the nation’s Constitutional Loya Jirga.

Once the Taleban came to power, televisions were banned altogether.

Unable to make a living, and given the constant violence in their homeland, most of Afghanistan's best-known female singers took up residence abroad. Their recordings, however, continued to be available despite the official ban and fetched a premium price.

Abdul Hamid Mubarez, the deputy minister of information and culture, told IWPR that "the conservatives are in a minority" on this issue. He said the television station received over 40 telephone calls of support following Salma's first appearance.

Karima Salik, head of development and the economic section at the women's affairs ministry, said the broadcast represented a great day for Afghan women.

"After the dark days of the Taleban, women have got freedom in many areas and this is another part of it," she said. "On the morning after the broadcast of that song, the staff at the women's affairs ministry were hugging and congratulating each other."

Reta Wajzma, one of very few female singers who did remain in the country although unable to perform, was thrilled at the latest development.

"I feel unbounded happiness," she said. "The rights of men and women are equal."

Mustafa Basharat is an independent journalist in Kabul participating in IWPR’s training programme. Shahbuddin Terakhel also works as a freelance journalist.