Algerian musician and rai music rebel Rachid Taha has told BBC World Service that he believes Western radio stations are more restrictive in what music they play than their counterparts in the Middle East, because they refrain from airing political songs.   Algerian musician and rai rebel Rachid Taha has …

  Dr. Hamed was facilitator of the first national conference on music and censorship in Afghanistan, held in the capital Kabul in April 2005. In this 3-minutes interview he explains about the outcome of the conference. Dr. Hamed is a renowned poet in Afghanistan. Apart from being a doctor, he is also …

Two young boys had to play in secret because their music was banned by Pakistani fundamentalists. Now they are selling thousands of albums, and are popular among Pakistanis all over the world.   BBC News’ Haroon Rashid writes from Pakistan’s conservative North-West Frontier Province, Peshawar, about two young boys who …

The film by Farhad Zamani tells the story of Googoosh – Iran’s pop diva, who is still banned from performing in her homeland. Googoosh was Iran’s most famous and beloved pop diva, until she was silenced following the 1979 Islamic revolution when female singers were labeled “temptresses” and forbidden to release …

Ferhat Tunç’s hearing on the 2nd of December 2004 is postponed to 9th of March 2005, for the purpose of gathering additional documents. Ferhat Tunç stated in his defense that he did not mean to insult the court and that he only meant to criticise. He said that he was …

Under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan musical instruments were destroyed and burned. The only music allowed was unaccompanied Taliban chants. Breaking the Silence was shot in Kabul just after the fall of the Taliban regime and portrays, among other things, the first concerts in the bombed-out city. Simon Broughton’s award …

Two teachers of South Indian dance stand up to religious ban on danceFor the past 53 years, Indu and Tehreema Mitha have been doing the impossible in Pakistan: teaching South Indian dance, Bharatanatyam, to Muslim girls in a country where Islamic clergymen will not allow girls to danceWithout any fanfare …

Cable TV channels showing raunchy Bollywood movies and foreign music videos have – again – been taken off air in Afghanistan by the government. Viewers have been able to watch foreign channels, including much-loved Indian films, since the Taleban fell in 2001. Bollywood movies were banned under the hardline Taleban …

”The Most Problematic Art Form” in Iran “Music can be considered the most vulnerable and problematic art form in the Iranian history,” according to Shadi Vatanparast from the Iranian web-magazine Tehranavenue.com. He reports how the post-Islamic history of the country is rife with examples of musical oppression “The state has …

Singer Ferhat Tunç, will be tried due to article 159 of the (former Turkish Penal Code) because of using the phrase “deep judiciary” in an article he wrote to daily GÜNDEM. The 1st hearing will be held on December 2nd, 2004, 09.30 at Istanbul, Beyoğlu First Instance Court. Proposed sentence …