First Woman to Win Award for Fighting Taliban with Music

Zahra Elham has become the first woman from Afghanistan to win the 14th edition of Afghan Star recently. The winner of the Afghan version of American Idol says she will continue to fight Taliban with her music, embracing the victory, which is rich in symbolism as her country faces an uncertain future.

13 years in a row, male contestants won the prize in the hugely popular televised singing competition in Afghanistan. Elham who belongs to Afghanistan’s ethnic Hazara minority has enchanted the audience with her high pitched, raspy voice mostly performing Hazara and Persian folk music in traditional and colourful Afghan dresses and heels.

The result of Afghan star is making international headlines at a time when many women in the strict patriarchal country fear their hard earned rights may come under attack again as the US is holding talks with the Taliban to find a way out of the war.

Elham though is determined to use her newly found fame to inspire other girls in her country. The young woman in her early 20’s said during an interview to AFP, “I was very proud of myself but at the same time shocked to be the first woman to win the contest”.

As she says, no one in her family sings. She was inspired by watching YouTube videos of idols like Aryana Sayeed, an Afghan pop singer and social media star. When asked if she, like Sayeed, is now a role model for Afghanistan’s young women, Elham’s responded, “Yes, my voice is important for the women of Afghanistan. Other girls will get courage and sing, like I have been following Aryana Sayeed…when I saw a girl like Aryana Sayeed I thought to myself, If she can, so can I. She has two hands and two legs, as do I”.

Zahra Elham, who is also a fan of Justin Bieber and Maher Zain, says she has no intention of going into politics. But if the Taliban return close to power in Afghanistan, Elham says, “I will fight with my music, because I want to make my life music and singing”. 

The Taliban using a weird interpretation of Islam has banned music and forced women in Afghanistan behind the closed doors and beneath burkas, during their strict rule in Afghanistan for 5 years from 1996 till they were ousted in 2001. Since then they have waged a bloody war against the Afghan government and US-led international forces.