The new set of laws is mostly directed at women, in particular, women are forbidden to speak loudly outside their own homes and not allowed to sing – even inside their own houses.
The hardline regime that regained power three years ago had promised a newer, softer version of their old self, but as it turns out things are falling into the same old tracks, perhaps looking worse.
The new laws strictly forbid women to raise their voices in public, let alone sing out loud – something they cannot even do inside the privacy of their own homes. The reason? It might lead men astray and provoke their vices. As we’ve covered before, music in general has been banned and professional musicians have had their instruments taken away from them to be burned.
These acts from the Taliban are seen by many as a direct attack on half of the population of Afghanistan and a way to erase them from public existence. With over a million girls and women not allowed an education, which puts future generations at risk, and not able to make basic human decisions about their own lives, such as when to step out of their own homes to buy food for their families, the Taliban is effectively stripping women of what it means to be a human being.
But Afghan women are not giving up, far from it. Both women inside the country, and those who have escaped to other countries, have taken to the internet and published videos of themselves singing in protest.
These acts of protest are very hazardous and Afghan women are well aware of that. But when your identity, your basic human rights, and your existence are being erased, there is not much left but to sing in defiance.
Read also: Women In Afghanistan Banned From Singing In Public – Protests Ensue
But this defiance is not only a recent thing. In 2021, only a few days after the Taliban takeover, women started singing in protest after two sisters initiated a movement called ‘The Last Torch’.
The rest of the world has not forgotten about Afghan women, although it might seem like that, at times, while observing mainstream media.
Artists around the world are pitching in, using their talents to raise awareness about the plight of these women and reminding the world that there is a dire fight going on.
Elaha Soroor was a working musician in Afghanistan, of Hazara ethnicity (a long-oppressed minority in the country). After she released “Sangsar”, a song openly criticizing the stoning law (a brutal practice, still common in many areas in Afghanistan) she was forced to escape the country when death threats and public, physical attacks became a reality.
In an interview with Bandcamp, Soroor and collaborator Al MacSween talk about what they hope to achieve with their music.
“Songs of Our Mothers is aimed to be a bold protest against the gender inequality, sexism, and misogyny that exists on a global scale, in dedication to women around the world whose image has been erased, and whose voice has been forbidden.”
“I hope [listeners] learn about the beauty of Afghan music, poetry, and culture, and experience what can happen when people come together in opposition to constructs of gender, race, and nationality,” says MacSween. “I hope people question their own attitudes, how their behavior can be reinforcing destructive attitudes towards women. And question xenophobia towards people from different parts of the world, especially towards asylum seekers and those that have suffered.”
