An interesting musical story on Afghanistan has cropped up in the British newspaper, The Guardian - a brief look at what the Taliban censorship of music has done to the country's folk culture.

The writer begins: "In December 1998 a local newspaper in western Afghanistan reported that a "number of unlawful instruments and goods" had been collected and publicly burned. The inventory included televisions, cassette players and VCRs and thousands of tapes, and also included musical instruments, justified by an accompanying hadith [a report of the sayings or actions of the Prophet Mohammed] declaring that "those who listen to music and songs in this world, on the Day of Judgment molten lead will be poured into their ears".

Elsewhere, he goes on to explain how radio allowed a variety of Afghan folk musicians to perform in a way they couldn't do in public, because music was a lower-class occupation – but on radio, women and even the prime minister's son could perform, anonymously. He reports that "the Taliban repression of women has had a severe impact on musical culture. Women's performance was the bedrock for musical life in Afghanistan. Although traditionally playing different instruments from men at different venues and occasions, this is the music that children heard as they grew up,"

My apologies for the lack of blue clickies (I can barely understand the instructions for sticking a stamp on an envelope, never mind websites) so the references are:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4275880,00.html

or, e-mail me at ianb@skywriter.demon.co.uk and I'll mail you the text.

Can You Stop The Birds Singing? by John Baily, and examples of Afghan music including Taliban chants, can also be found on a fascinating website about freedom of expression in music - the Freemuse website www.freemuse.org

- IanB