Afghanistan: Broadcast of Colombian singer censored
A performance by the Colombian pop star Shakira has provoked a row between the Afghan government and the country’s independent media, reports Tom Coghlan from Kabul for the British newspaper Daily Telegraph
Senior Muslim clerics and members of Afghanístan's Ministry of Culture warned the country’s largest private television station Tolo TV of "serious consequences" and possible legal action following the broadcast of a concert by Shakira, even though Tolo TV had covered her chest with computer pixellation.
State television broadcast interviews with clerics and members of parliament criticising the concert while one newspaper claimed that the "notorious" broadcast of a "naked US pop singer and dancer" provides inspiration to suicide bombers.
The owner of Tolo TV, Saad Mohseni, said: "This was not that provocative and Shakira was pixellated. The government are looking for an excuse to have a go at us."
Tom Coghlan writes that the incident "is the latest sign of a growing fight back by the country’s powerful conservative establishment against the tide of Western-backed liberal reforms since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001."
New restrictions The article by Tom Coghlan gives an insight into the battle which presently takes place between liberals and conservatives in Afghanistan:
"Draconian new media legislation is soon to be signed into law by President Hamid Karzai after it was recently approved by the Kabul parliament. The measures will give the government greater powers to limit broadcasts that are deemed damaging to Afghanistan and its culture, primarily by forcing television stations to carry more religious programmes or face going off air.
Afghanistan’s constitution guarantees the provisions of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which include freedom of speech and expression. But it also includes a prominent article which states that "no law can be contrary to the provisions and practices of Islam".
This has proved a battleground between liberals and conservatives particularly in relation to restrictions within Islam’s Sharia laws, most notably those on blasphemy. Tolo TV has been frequently criticised for broadcasting Western-style programmes including versions of MTV, Oprah and Pop Idol."
At a workshop in Kabul participants from all over the country identified some of the key problems that make life difficult for Afghan musicians and composers.
Afghanistan's first rock music festival, ‘Sound Central – The Central Asian Modern Music Festival’ is an advocacy event for freedom of expression at a critical time.
The organiser of a concert where the singers appeared on stage without headscarves was fired after religious elders had complained that this was inappropriate
Music Freedom Day 2011: An exiled DJ returns to Kabul, music is smuggled out from Burma, and Freemuse hands over an award to an imprisoned singer in Cameroon
Somalia is starting to resemble Afghanistan under the Taliban, where hard-line Islamist militia bans music and movies and forbids the public from watching sports on TV
Afghan singer Shakib Mosadeq dared sing songs of political protest, and was subsequently forced to leave his country, reported Global Post on 16 May 2010
A 'Morality and Knowledge Association' recently established in Herat wants to ban women's voices from the airwaves, reported Jean MacKenzie and Rateb Muzhda from Herat
Ethnomusicologist John Baily and Freemuse executive director Marie Korpe speak about the Taliban’s campaign against music and musicians in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Lima Sahar charmed her way into the third spot of the 2008 version of the wildly popular 'Afghan Star' competition. Now in exile, she fears for her life
In a short documentary video about music and 'community censorship' in Afghanistan, the 19-year-old Afghan singer Mariam says she gets verbal abuse all the time
A letter from the Ministry of Culture and Information stated that "everything which is against the Sharia laws should not be printed, broadcasted, audio/video telecasted"
A commission for cultural and religious affairs in Afghanistan's lower house of parliament suggested to impose new restrictions on music and dance performance