- Title: AFGHNAISTAN: KABUL TV REVIVES BAN ON FEMALE PERFORMERS
- Date: 14th January 2004
- Summary: (W4) KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (JANUARY 15, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. LV OF BUSY STREET. MOSQUE IN DISTANCE 0.07 2. SLV WOMEN IN BURQAS WALKING ON THE STREET 0.16 3. MCU/SV OF COVERED WOMEN ON THE STREETS OF KABUL (3 SHOTS) 0.30 4. SV FAZL AHMED MANAWI, DEPUTY CHIEF JUSTICE OF AFGHANISTAN'S SUPREME COURT SITTING 0.35 5. MCU (Dari) FAZL AHMED MANAWI, DEPUTY CHIEF JUSTICE OF AFGHANISTAN'S SUPREME COURT SAYING "The constitution of Afghanistan mentions that no law can be contrary to the sacred religion of Islam. So appearance of women on television is against this law and against our Sharia law. So we do not want anything that is against Islam." 1.02 (W4) UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION (FILE) (REUTERS) 6. VARIOUS OF A VIDEO CLIP OF POPULAR AFGHAN SINGER PARASTO, WHO APPEARED ON THE AFGHAN STATE TV ON MONDAY, ENDING A 12-YEAR BAN ON THE APPEARANCE OF LOCAL FEMALE SINGERS ON STATE TV 1.43 (W4) KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (JANUARY 15, 2004) (REUTERS) 7. SV/MCU PEOPLE AT STREET MARKET/OLD MAN STANDING WITH HIS GRANDSON (2 SHOTS) 1.50 8. MCU (Dari) ZALMAI KHAN, LOCAL RESIDENT SAYING "There should not be an issue about having a woman singer on television. I think the public is quite happy to see them, it's better to have them on TV." 1.57 9. MCU (Dari) AKBAR KHAN, ANOTHER RESIDENT OF KABUL SAYING "I, as a Muslim, am not happy to see women singing on TV. It's alright to be a woman announcer on television but not a singer. When I saw an Afghan woman singing on TV, I left my room and went to another room." 2.22 10. SLV OF PEOPLE WALKING IN A CROWDED AREA OF KABUL 2.30 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 29th January 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
- Country: Afghanistan
- Reuters ID: LVA797IGWVFR8CBCWNR0EBIU7ROI
- Story Text: Kabul TV revives ban on female performers, just days
after broadcasting library pictures of popular woman singer.
In an embarrassing setback for moderates in
Afghanistan's U.S.-backed government, authorities have
reimposed a ban on women singing on state television just
days after it was lifted.
The decision to restore the ban followed a protest from
the Supreme Court, which is dominated by religious
conservatives, officials said on Thursday (January 15).
On Monday (January 12), Kabul Television broadcast
library footage of Parasto, a well-known singer who now
lives in the West, performing without a headscarf.
Officials said the move was in line with a newly
approved constitution giving equal rights to women.
But the Supreme Court wrote in protest to the
Information and Culture Minister Sayed Makhdoom Raheen
saying the decision to lift the ban was in defiance of its
rulings.
Raheen was seen as the key figure behind the lifting of
the ban. He refused to comment on the fresh developments.
Deputy Chief Justice Fazl Ahmad Manawi said the Supreme
Court was "opposed to women singing and dancing as a whole"
and added that the broadcast was totally against the
decisions of the Supreme Court.
"The constitution of Afghanistan mentions that no law
can be contrary to the sacred religion of Islam. So
appearance of women on television is against this law and
against our Sharia law. So we do not want anything that is
against Islam," he told Reuters Television on Thursday.
The ban had been in force for nearly 12 years since a
government of mujahideen, or Muslim holy warriors, replaced
a communist regime in Kabul.
In 1996, the even more conservative Taliban replaced
the mujahideen and banned all television as part of its
strict imposition of sharia, or traditional Islamic law.
But among the people there was a mixed reaction to the
latest flip-flop.
One local Kabul man, Zalmai Khan, said the Afghan
public loved watching women singers on television.
"There should not be an issue about having a woman
singer on television. I think the public is quite happy to
see them, it's better to have them on TV," he said.
But Akbar Khan, another resident, said woman presenters
on state television were all right but singers were a bit
too much for his liking.
"I, as a Muslim, am not happy to see women singing on
TV. It's alright to be a woman announcer on television but
not a singer. When I saw an Afghan woman singing on TV, I
left my room and went to another room."
The latest move is a setback for moderates in President
Hamid Karzai's government in their battle with religious
conservatives opposed to liberalisation, since the
Taliban's overthrow by U.S.-led forces in 2001.
The initial removal of the ban came weeks after the
replacement of the conservative head of Kabul Radio and
Television.
Ghulam Hassan Hazrati succeeded Mohammad Isahaq, a key
official in the Northern Alliance faction, which is mainly
composed of mujahideen groups and forms the backbone of
Karzai's government.
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