03-02-2010
By Mariwan Faydullah Salihi What really sickens me for a while are voices within Kurdistan that condemn modern and enlightened people, including some good artists and entertainers who are brave enough to start a 'Revolution' in our very conservative society. Who hasn't read all those articles denouncing good, young singers such as Dashni Murad. Dashni, also nicknamed 'the Shakira of Iraqi Kurdistan,' has returned to Kurdistan Region from the Netherlands to serve her own nation. She's a good pop singer and television presenter with many fans, including me (yes, me!). But not everyone is happy with her. Some conservative 'Islamists' and women rights activists have called her beautiful dance moves and perfectly directed video clips as 'unacceptable,' and 'controversial' as like she was an actress in a dirty porn movie. The issue here is not Dashni Murad, nor her songs and video clips. Some individuals and groups in Kurdistan just want to keep this area in Medieval Ages…back to the 12th century. Other people, who have been verbally attacked, are popular singers like Loka and Meera and song writer Halkawt Zaher, who work hard to deliver nice and modern music to their Kurdish audience. If we look to other so called 'conservative countries' in the Middle East, we notice that all of them are much more 'free' than our so called 'secular' Kurdistan. In Kuwait, female singers wear revealing clothes and have the most 'sexiest' video clips, though their society still accepts it and encourages their young artists. It's the same case for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain. Even Saudi Arabia, though from the Diaspora, has plenty of 'Shakira's'. It's time that our people start accepting its artists, no matter what they wear or look like. We always show to the rest of the world that we are an 'open-minded society,' but in fact behave like Afghanistan’s Taliban. There's nothing wrong with wearing revealing clothing…its part of our freedom. We should respect that as we should respect a woman wearing headscarf. It's time for those people, who condemn modernism and globalization, to shut up! The old generation has already caused too much damage and brainwashing to our country; it's time for the new generation to take the lead. Give us the freedom to live our lives the way we see it right: We want to be part of planet Earth, like other young people around the world! Soon, Erbil will witness concerts of famous Lebanese artists such as Elissa and Haifa Wahbi. With all my respect to these beautiful Diva's, they are usually 'half naked,' both in their video clips and their live performances. All of their concerts are fully booked. Why do the Kurdish media not condemn these popular artists and only attack our own female singers? © Rudaw
