Afghanistan reverses ban on girls over 12 singing in public

Students attend an open air class at a primary school in Kabul, Afghanistan

Credit: AP/AP

The Afghan government has abandoned a ban on girls aged 12 and over singing at official ceremonies and in schools, after a backlash on social media and diplomatic pressure from Britain. 

After officials in Kabul issued the ban last week, Afghan women and girls took to social media to post videos where they sang their favourite songs in protest at the draconian measures. 

The British government also raised the case with Afghan authorities, as a number of the schools that would have been affected are funded by UK aid. 

And in response, on Saturday night, the Kabul education directorate issued a statement which said the ban would be reversed as it “does not reflect the positions or policies of the Ministry.” 

Afghan officials have claimed the ban was applied only to girls in error, as it was meant to forbid both boys and girls from singing due to the risk of spreading coronavirus at public events.

But womens’ rights activists have rejected this, and say the policy was an attempt by the Taliban to subtly impose its ultra-conservative values on Afghanistan. 

“This is Talibanization from inside the republic,” Sima Samar, an activist, told the Associated Press.

There was also no mention of the pandemic in the original version of the ban seen by local reporters. 

It merely stated: “The education department of Kabul city, all government, private sector and literacy centers are seriously advised not to let female students . . . above 12 years of age participate and sing in any type of events or general programs.”

The singing row came as the UN security council called for the "full, equal and meaningful participation of women" in Afghanistan’s ongoing peace process. 

"The members of the security council recognized that a sustainable peace can be achieved only through a comprehensive and inclusive Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace process that aims at a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire," the council said in a statement.

The council "condemned in the strongest terms the alarming number of attacks deliberately targeting civilians in Afghanistan."

Without naming any particular group, the council said its members "also expressed their deep concerns about the threat posed by terrorism to Afghanistan and the region."