✍️ By: Hamia Naderi
Nearly two decades after the establishment of radio in Afghanistan, the country’s citizens had yet to hear a song performed by a woman, and no one knew how the public would react.
At the time, Afghanistan had only one station—Radio Kabul, later renamed Radio Afghanistan—which included music in its programming.
In 1946, two short songs sung by a young girl under the pseudonym Fereshteh were broadcast, but her work did not continue due to family opposition.
The second girl to sing on Radio Kabul was Samia Mirzad, known as Shahla.
Not much is known about Mirzad’s life, but it is said she later worked as a presenter on the radio alongside Raqia Habib, reading morning and evening news as well as literary programs.
In an article for BBC Persian marking Radio Afghanistan’s 85th anniversary, Basir Ahmad Hussainzada quoted Mirzad’s memoir from the book Memoirs of the First Girls’ School in Afghanistan, where she recounted her passion for singing and the challenges she faced:
“I will never forget: it was cold, and I couldn’t climb the school wall. I went to the gate with a friend, bought a little mantu for the guard, and while my friend distracted him, I slipped away. I recorded a beautiful song for the radio—its lyrics were by Abdul Haq Wahil.
When I got home, my father asked why I was late. I said I’d been at the tekyeh house with classmates. He asked, ‘Did you cry there?’ I said yes. He said, ‘Don’t think I don’t know you went to the radio!’
Believe me, he broke ten willow branches over me and beat me so hard I could barely speak. Then he asked, ‘Will you go to the radio again?’ I said yes—until he finally collapsed.”
The third woman, and the one remembered most prominently, was Khadija Ziaee, known by her stage name Meerman Parween.
The First Female Singer on Radio
Under her pseudonym, Parween first performed her song “Baad Az In Rahm Makun” (Have No Mercy From Now On).
Her voice was broadcast over Radio Kabul in 1950, and she soon became celebrated as Afghanistan’s first female radio singer.
Websites like that of the Solidarity Party of Afghanistan have called her “the pioneering artist who broke taboos and shattered misogynistic barriers.” Wikipedia also lists her as Afghanistan’s first female singer in both English and Persian.
Abdul Wahab Madadi, in his book The History of Music in Afghanistan, describes how her voice reached the airwaves:
“In March 1951, Ustad Latifi took a recording device to Parween’s home and recorded several songs. A few days later, these were broadcast from Radio Kabul and warmly received by listeners.”
Afterward, Parween would go to the radio station wearing a chadari (veil) to record, and her voice captivated audiences across the country.
In a 2004 interview with The Wall Street Journal, she spoke about her early challenges:
“I was afraid of the mullahs, but I was determined to sing. After I began singing on the radio, my relatives cut ties with me, but I didn’t care. I was young and bold. Over time, other women began singing too, and audiences loved us.”
One of her most famous songs, “Gol Forosh” (The Flower Seller), was broadcast during Nowruz 1951 and remained popular for years. Over her career, she recorded more than 300 songs at Radio Kabul.
Legacy
Parween was born in Kabul in 1922 and lived there for most of her life. During the first Taliban regime, she fled briefly to Peshawar, Pakistan, but returned after their fall and was the first woman to perform publicly at a women’s gathering in Kabul.
In her later years, she reportedly said:
“I am certain the enemies of women’s voices will have shorter lives. I may leave this world, but there are young people to carry on this path.”
Meerman Parween passed away on September 8, 2004, at age 82, in her apartment in the Macroyan area of Kabul after an illness.
