More on the Afghan Star...
Afghan singer Lima Sahar, center, adjusts her scarf as she sits next to fellow "Afghan Star" contestant Rafay Nabzada during a rehearsal at Tolo TV office in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 12, 2008.
Good for her. She really sounds like she IS one. And get this, the same identity and gender wars currently besetting the dear Democrat's "American Star for President" contest is giving the Afghan Star fits too! P.S. I love the mullahs' panties being all up in a wad about it, too.
Afghan clerics upset as woman makes final of Afghan Star.
Afghanistan's clerics' council has protested to the president, Hamid Karzai, over the show. "In the situation that we have in Afghanistan right now, we don't need a woman singer. We don't need Afghan Star. We are in need of a good economy, good education," said Ali Ahmad Jebra-ali, a member of the council.
"If Lima Sahar wins Afghan Star, how can she help the poor? This is not the way to help the Afghan people."Haji Baran Khan, a farmer from Kandahar – the Taleban's spiritual birthplace and the city Lima now calls home – said a Pashtun girl singing on TV went against the country's culture. "She is also affecting the minds of other good girls. She should stop singing," said Khan, whose three sons and two daughters told him about Lima's success.
She says she's just the latest in a long tradition of Afghan artists – albeit in a more modern form. "Artists are historical and cultural in our country. Artists have been around a long time," she told a news conference. "I came by the vote of the people of Afghanistan."
Several hundred supporters lined up to get the three finalists' autographs at an event in Kabul.
The three finalists represent each of Afghanistan's three main ethnic groups: Pashtuns, Hazaras and Tajiks. Shohabidin Mohammad, an ethnic Hazara who was at the event in Kabul, said he didn't believe ethnicity should play a part in the vote. But he acknowledged, somewhat sheepishly, he will vote for the Hazara finalist – Hameed Sakhizada.
Standing beside him was Abass Nariwal, a fan of Lima's and, like her, an ethnic Pashtun.
Another of her fans, Nematullah Khan, is a 25-year-old student at Kandahar University."She took a bold step. She has a lot of courage," he said. "Whether she wins or not, she's a good example for our youth."
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Afghan clerics upset as woman makes final of Afghan Star.
Afghanistan's clerics' council has protested to the president, Hamid Karzai, over the show. "In the situation that we have in Afghanistan right now, we don't need a woman singer. We don't need Afghan Star. We are in need of a good economy, good education," said Ali Ahmad Jebra-ali, a member of the council.
"If Lima Sahar wins Afghan Star, how can she help the poor? This is not the way to help the Afghan people."Haji Baran Khan, a farmer from Kandahar – the Taleban's spiritual birthplace and the city Lima now calls home – said a Pashtun girl singing on TV went against the country's culture. "She is also affecting the minds of other good girls. She should stop singing," said Khan, whose three sons and two daughters told him about Lima's success.
She says she's just the latest in a long tradition of Afghan artists – albeit in a more modern form. "Artists are historical and cultural in our country. Artists have been around a long time," she told a news conference. "I came by the vote of the people of Afghanistan."
Several hundred supporters lined up to get the three finalists' autographs at an event in Kabul.
The three finalists represent each of Afghanistan's three main ethnic groups: Pashtuns, Hazaras and Tajiks. Shohabidin Mohammad, an ethnic Hazara who was at the event in Kabul, said he didn't believe ethnicity should play a part in the vote. But he acknowledged, somewhat sheepishly, he will vote for the Hazara finalist – Hameed Sakhizada.
Standing beside him was Abass Nariwal, a fan of Lima's and, like her, an ethnic Pashtun.
Another of her fans, Nematullah Khan, is a 25-year-old student at Kandahar University."She took a bold step. She has a lot of courage," he said. "Whether she wins or not, she's a good example for our youth."
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