An Afghan teen girl uploaded a video of herself last week singing a song called “I Will Kiss You amid the Taliban” to celebrate Valentine’s Day, causing a stir in her home country.
The girl, identified as Ghawgha Taban, appears singing a song with the lyrics of a poem written by Afghan poet Ramin Mazhar, prompting debate on social media, according to Afghanistan’s Khaama news agency. The song’s lyrics, originally in Farsi, go as follows:
Every step, every destination, I love you.
To spite the murderous traditions, I love you.
You are pious, your kisses are your prayer.
You are different, your kisses are your protest.
You are not afraid of love, of hope, of tomorrow.
I kiss you amid the Taliban, you are not afraid!
According to Khaama, young people in the capital Kabul celebrated Valentine’s Day last week with various social gatherings, but authorities in western Herat province banned such festivities because they allegedly violate Sharia, the Islamic divine law. While the day traditionally observes the Catholic feast day of St. Valentine, it has come to be celebrated as a secular holiday for romantic love throughout the world.
Its Christian background has led some Islamic countries to take similar anti-Valentine’s measures to that in Herat, Afghanistan. This year, police in Indonesia conducted raids on places suspected of holding decadent celebrations. In a more measured attempt to eradicate the holiday, a university in Pakistan attempted to re-brand the day “Sister’s Day” in an effort to promote “Islamic traditions.”
In a statement about the video published by Khaamal, Taban explained that her music was her way of opposing the repressive ideology imposed by the Taliban, who continue to exert influence over the country with the aim of imposing an extreme form of Sharia:
I had a simple motive to specify my personal stance against a situation dominated by Talibanism, a thing which Taliban do not have any doubt about. But the reactions were enormous. The reactions are both hopeful and concerning with the main reason being populism, I do not think those who have supported me in their reaction are anti-Taliban and it should be considered as risky, since those considering us as sacred for such a small work, can stone us to death, call us prostitutes, or torch us to death in the center of the city.
A Taliban dominant social situation is nothing more than a blink of an eye where people get united at a blink of eye while some actions are condemned blindly. It is our human obligation to react against Talibanism but at the same time we should not forget the horrific reasons, reactions and individual absenteeism, this individual absenteeism is horrific. The real fight against Taliban is nothing more than an individual revitalization.
Since its formation in the 1990s, the Taliban has routinely repressed the lives of women in Afghanistan, preventing them from accessing basic rights such as education and the right to work. The Taliban has not formally ruled Afghanistan since the U.S. invasion in 2003 but has recently expanded territorial control, particularly following the Obama-era drawn-down of U.S. troops.
The Taliban are now engaging in “peace talks” with the United States, urging U.S. troops to withdraw completely and allow the Taliban to run candidates for office as an official political party. Talks have stalled because the Taliban do not recognize the government of Afghanistan as legitimate, instead claiming itself as the only government of the country.
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