Agence France Presse

KABUL, 14 January 2004 — For the first time in a decade public television has broadcast images of an Afghan woman singing, giving Kabul’s prime time audience a rare chance to watch a former star croon a romantic ballad.

On Monday evening, the national station showed images of Salma, a star in Afghanistan during the 1970s and 80s, singing one of her most popular hits, “Homesick.”

She appeared on the screen dressed in a sober red and white blouse with a simple veil over her hair. Although Salma was shown singing only one song for about five minutes, it was broadcast at a time when the largest number of Kabulis were in front of their televisions.

It was the first time since the fall of the Communist regime of Najibullah in 1992 that Afghan public television has shown such images.

“Since the fall of the Taleban, we have had a few Indian films in which there are sometimes Indian songs, by Indian women,” Kabul TV director Aziz Arianfar told AFP. Indian movies broadcast on Kabul TV are censored.

“Last night was the first time we had a song by an Afghan woman”. During the 1992-1996 civil war of the Mujahedeen fighters television stations stopped showing images of women.

Under the even more hard-line Taleban regime which came to power in 1996, women were unable to work, girls were banned from schools and television was forbidden.

Under the moderate post-Taleban government of President Hamid Karzai women have made their way back to the small screen but Monday night was the first time a woman was shown singing on television. Since 2002, women have presented news shows but that marked the limit of their screen presence.

At least two other music clips featuring women were also shown Monday night, of which one was a religious song in Urdu to mark the visit to Kabul by Pakistan Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali. Arianfar said the unique images were part of Kabul television’s modern new programming plans.

“As part of Kabul TV’s program reforms, and to make the programs better, we plan to have songs by women,” he said.

“In the past, the Kabul TV environment was a bit closed. There were reactions against women singing. Kabul is a bit more civilized than other cities of Afghanistan, so we should have woman songs and better programs on TV.”

“We are endeavoring to perform our artistic works regardless of the issue of sex,” Information and Culture Minister Sayed Makdoom Raheen told Reuters yesterday, when asked about the lifting of a ban on the broadcasting of women singing.

The lifting of the ban came weeks after the replacement of engineer Mohammad Ishaq as head of Kabul Radio and TV. His successor, Ghulam Hassan Hazrati, has close ties with Raheen.

Ishaq is a senior member of the Northern Alliance who was at loggerheads with Raheen in a battle that reflected the broader struggle between Karzai’s reformist government and conservative elements who still control many key positions of power.

Reaction on the streets to Parasto’s surprise appearance also reflected the tussle.

The status of women in Afghanistan, one of the world’s most conservative Islamic societies, has improved gradually since the fall of the Taleban just over two years ago. But the majority of Afghan women, particularly those in rural areas, still live under the head-to-toe all-enshrouding burqa and remain confined to their homes.

In the capital Kabul, Afghanistan’s most progressive area, many women have found employment and are free to walk around wearing a veil or simple headscarf rather than the full burqa. On Jan. 4, a traditional Loya Jirga or grand assembly adopted a new constitution which recognizes the equal rights of men and women.

Meanwhile, visiting US congressman Mark Kirk yesterday said he would push for the bounty on Osama Bin Laden’s head to be doubled to $50 million once he returns to Washington. Speaking to reporters at the US Embassy in the Afghan capital, the Republican congressman said there also needed to be an increased awareness of the US government rewards program for the capture of Bin Laden in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area.