“Targeted by the Taliban” Afghan Female Musician Fear September 17, 11:04

"If we find it in the Taliban, we will surely be killed,"

said a member of the Afghanistan's first female-only orchestra, Zora.

Their performances were highly regarded in the world and they were a symbol of women's social advancement.

Now that the administration is in the hands of the Taliban, he is frightened by violence and is fleeing abroad one after another.

Having been interviewing them for a long time, I met online after the fall of the capital Kabul and listened to their sad feelings.

(Keihei Shigeta, Director of the International Program Department)

"Situations that make you want to cover your eyes"

On August 15, when the news that the "armed Taliban had advanced to Kabul" ran around the world, the first thing that came to mind was the members of the "Zora" orchestra.

Zora is an orchestra of about 30 female students from the National Conservatory in Kabul, and its performance has received worldwide acclaim.

I wanted to follow that activity as a documentary, so I was interviewing Zora's founder and academy director, Ahmad Salmast.

The last time I talked about it was May.

At that time, he was enthusiastic about his thoughts on the concert ahead of the summer and his plans for a new studio.

When I contacted him again this time, Mr. Salmast has been staying in Australia for medical treatment since July.

The face I saw for the first time in three months was messy.

Mr. Salmast

"The situation changed suddenly at an unpredictable rate. We are in

constant

contact with the site 24 hours a day. Taliban fighters repeatedly steal and violence, making the site want to cover their eyes. But all the members of the orchestra are (for now) safe. "

For the time being, I was relieved by the words.

During the interview, the notification sound on his cell phone does not stop.

It seemed that he was struggling every day to grasp the situation of the orchestra members.

Orchestra members who are hiding in the home, the prospect of activity resume is not exactly standing.

Some members of the orchestra came back to school, thinking it would be dangerous to find an instrument when the Taliban came home.

Taliban fighters reportedly visited the school three times and asked for their whereabouts in search of internationally renowned Salmast.

Mr. Salmast once suffered a suicide bombing while watching a music concert in Kabul and was injured.

I'm still worried that my students will not be in danger.

Mr. Salmast

"My biggest concern is the safety of the lives of my students and those who fight for human rights. The bearers of Afghan art and culture are once again genocide (= harming with the intention of destroying the group). Will be the target of

"Zora" was the star of hope for women

Originally, Afghanistan developed a unique music that was a mixture of Indian, Persian and Arab cultures.

However, the Taliban, who took power for five years from 1996, outlawed music.

According to Salmast, many musicians were killed or fled abroad at this time.

Since the inauguration of the new administration in 2001, the right to education for women has been recognized and social advancement is gradually progressing, and Mr. Salmast established the "Afghanistan National Conservatory" in 2010.

Salmast who studied music in the Soviet Union and Australia.

In order to give children the opportunity to learn music, regardless of gender, they traveled to poor families and orphanages in conflict areas and found talented children through keyboard-based sound tests.

The school has provided musical instruments, textbooks, and meals free of charge, and has conducted full-scale music training.

Among them, Zora was formed in 2015 by gathering 29 female students.

The name comes from the Persian "goddess of music".

The graceful performance that fused Western classical music such as Beethoven and Mozart with traditional Afghan music using folk instruments quickly became a hot topic.

Starting with a performance at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in 2017, concerts have been held in Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, India and other countries.

Some members also experienced playing at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York.

Zora's success has become a symbol of "new Afghanistan" where people can enjoy music and women can play an active role.

While the Taliban's influence remained strong, the orchestra members were repeatedly warned by Taliban members and Islamic leaders to stop their activities, but they did not stop on the stage.

"Survive anyway"

"Music is banned in Islam," a Taliban executive who regained power last month told The New York Times.

The hands of the clock have been returned.

What are the orchestra members feeling now?

I asked Mr. Salmast to interview the remaining members of the orchestra, but he could not do it because they could be harmed as "notifying the overseas media."

Instead, I was able to talk online with two orchestra members who had been abroad as international students before the Taliban advance.

One of them, Nazira Wari (21), a cellist and a member of the orchestra since the founding of Zora.

Currently, he is studying cello performance as a scholarship student at a university in Tennessee, USA.

For safety, she consulted an anonymous interview, but she appeared and wanted to respond to the interview with her real name.

Nazira Wari

"The Taliban believes that women should be banned from walking outside without a man and should stay in the house. Zora's women prove their talents and a large crowd. But that's definitely what they don't want. If they find a member of the orchestra, they will punish us in every way, including killing. The Taliban "brainwashed us into the West." I see them as "young people."

Nazira is from a poor area in eastern Afghanistan.

The village had no electricity or water, and lived a "primitive life" of drawing water in the mountains every day, and the school was destroyed by the Taliban.

After being found by the Salmasts, Nazira has lived away from her hometown, but has not returned to the village for the last decade due to pressure from the Taliban over Zora's activities.

In addition, the fall of the capital has made it impossible to return to Kabul.

Mr. Nazira Wari

"Kabul is a really dangerous situation. Now I just hope that my friends will not be killed and will survive."

"Deprived of all freedom"

Another person interviewed was Zarifa Adiva (23), who was active as a conductor and fiddler.

After a short-term study abroad program at Yale University in the United States, he is currently enrolled in a graduate school in Kyrgyzstan as a scholarship student.

While continuing to violin, he studied international politics and law, and his dream for the future was to join the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan and work to popularize music education.

Zarifa also wanted to show up and respond to the interview with her real name.

Zarifa Adiva

"When the Taliban came to Kabul and dragged down the Afghan flag, I couldn't stop crying. The local situation is worse than the news reports." Women's education is allowed. You can go to work, "but what about the truth? My friend says he was kicked out of work."

What am I most "worried about" right now?

She said in a strong word.

Zarifa Adiva

"It

's

not" worry "but" fear ". Women take away all their freedom to be educated at school, to play sports, to wear their favorite clothes, to think and decide for themselves. I'm afraid that what women have accumulated so far will be completely destroyed and it will take another 20 years to rebuild. "

"Be sure to get the music back"

Zarifa is a "Hazaras" who has been the target of persecution by the Taliban in Afghanistan, where diverse ethnic groups live.

At the age of six, he fled to neighboring Pakistan, where he lost many friends after being hit by a terrorist bombing aimed at Hazaras.

It was Zora who gave Zarifa, who was at the edge of despair, an opportunity to have a dream.

Mr. Zarifa said that he could not return to Afghanistan for the time being, having the "triple pain" of "female," "musician," and "Hazaras," but the fire of Zora's activities should never be extinguished. ..

Zarifa Adiva

"Zora

brings

together girls from all parts of Afghanistan. Afghanistan originally has inter-ethnic conflicts, but in the orchestra, we do our best to work together to play beautiful music. I have done my best.

I

have been

respected as a human being in Zora and

have been

endowed with passion and self-affirmation. I am confident that even a woman can “change something”. I want only the Conservatory to be safe. "

Nazira, who is studying cello performance in the United States, is still hoping to return to her home country and resume her musical activities.

Nazira Wari

"I want to be a person who

brings

music back to Afghanistan. Music is like food and is essential to society. Without music, humans cannot live. Music is the heart. It's just that, it's a manifestation of everyone's creativity. Someday, we'll definitely get the music back. "

On days when the orchestra sounds

Suddenly one day, listening to music and singing are prohibited.

The artist throws away his instrument and is scared in the corner of the room.

It's hard to imagine in Japan, which is full of music, but in Afghanistan there is growing concern that it will become a reality.

The Taliban's interim administration announced on the 7th of this month that it will monitor the behavior of the people to see if the former administration complies with Islamic norms and will revive the "Ministry for the Propagation and Discipline," which allegedly suppressed women's rights.

I've been looking forward to the shooting day since I heard about the concert plans in the spring, but it didn't come true.

I sincerely hope that their safety will be guaranteed and that the day will come when the orchestra will resonate in Afghanistan.

Kouhei Shigeta,

Director, Political Economy and International Program Department

Joined in

2014

Covers

racial discrimination and gender issues at home and abroad