Music returns to the streets of Kandahar

(24 Jan 2002)
1. Musicians playing together
2. Various of musicians
3. Drums
4. SOT Hayathullah Abdali, Group Leader (Pashtu) - "Here, we and our friends who come to watch us are all happy now. We are trying to rebuild our culture of the past, which is our cultural music and hospitality."
5. Various of audience
6. Man singing
7. Stringed instrument being played
8. Keyboard being played
9. Audience watching
10. Group playing
11. Entrance to video games arcade
12. Various of interior of video games arcade, people playing games
13. SOT Niamuth Ullah, Student (Pashtu) - "We were very bored under the Taliban," this student says. "Now we are very happy with the new government. They are giving us an education and these games to play."
14. VS Video store
15. Various of people looking at films at video store
16. Customer choosing a video
17. SOT Jan Mohammad, student and customer, (Pashtu) - "During the day now we go to school, this customer says and after school we get to watch videos and DVDs"
18. Videos and DVDs in shop window
19. Close up DVDs
STORYLINE:
POST TALIBAN KANDAHAR EMBRACES MUSIC AND VIDEO GAMES
Popular entertainment outlawed by the Taliban as a sin against Islam is once again being embraced by Afghanis in the wake of the regime's downfall.
Music is making a comeback, while video games, never seen before in Kandahar are being brought in from neighbouring Pakistan, to the delight of teenagers.
At the Pamir Hotel in the heart of Kandahar, dozens of men come together each evening to informally share their appreciation of music.
They play the harmonium, beat drums and sing in deep baritones about love, life and religion.
It is the first time since the fall of the Taliban and its fiercely puritanical doctrines that music, education and the simple promise of freedom can be heard.
Meanwhile video games arcades are now popping up on streets all over the city. Youngsters who grew up under a restrictive regime with little fun in their lives are now discovering the latest in entertainment.
Television was also banned under the Taliban. Before they took power, video shops sold and rented VHS cassettes imported from Pakistan.
Today there's now an even greater choice available, including DVDs. The choice is wide open and includes many of the latest releases from 007 to Will Smith.
Normality is still a long way off for Kandahar. The city of 300-thousand, the Taliban's stronghold during its five years in power, bristles with weapons.
Truckloads of men bearing rocket launchers and Kalashnikov rifles roar through streets scarred by 20 years of fighting. It's not clear to whom they're loyal - new governor Gul Agha, or his arch rival, Mullah Naqib Ullah, the deputy head of security, with whom he has a fragile power-sharing agreement.
But for now, the taste of freedom is savoured and can be heard resonating through the city.

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