My musician friends in Afghanistan are hiding their musical instruments
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Twenty-one-year-old Arson Fahim, pianist, composer and conductor from Kabul, flew to Boston, USA, only a couple of weeks ago, with a scholarship to study Piano and Composition. The talented musician has performed at several prestigious venues around the world, including Bangalore and Ooty and was looking forward to a new chapter in his creative journey. But ever since he landed in the US, he has been anxious and fearful about the safety of his family — parents, sister, grandparents, uncle, aunts and cousins — in Kabul, as the Taliban swept towards the capital. Arson, who has been in constant touch with them, spoke to us about the current situation in his homeland, Afghanistan.
“I speak with them. They (family) are fine as of now. But the situation in Kabul is not good at all. It is like we are returning to the Stone Age once again,” said Arson from Boston. “Taliban are claiming that they have changed. But I don’t believe them. They are like a dark force. There will be restrictions on women, education will stop and there will be a ban on music,” added the musician.
That, for Arson, is one of the biggest threats. Between 1996 and 2001 music was banned in Afghanistan during the Taliban regime. “Earlier, we saw them breaking and burning musical instruments. They killed artists. Recently, they killed a comedian. My musician friends have started hiding their musical instruments far away from their house so that when the Taliban conduct raids, they find nothing. It is heartbreaking to see that in the 21st century, when we have so much technology around us, you have to hide something as beautiful as music,” added Arson, who is also an Ambassador for Peace at the South Asian Symphony Orchestra (SASO).
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I'm sure it'll all be fine. Biden's coordinating closely with the Taliban so this'll all get sorted.
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@aqua-letifer said in My musician friends in Afghanistan are hiding their musical instruments:
I'm sure it'll all be fine. Biden's coordinating closely with the Taliban so this'll all get sorted.
Apparently the Taliban is going to drive Americans to the airport. They should call the service Tüber…