Kurdish music band ‘Dayrak Khatoon’ has been banned from performing live at the ‘International Festival of Tribal Music’, which is held between 19 to 22 January in Kermanshah.
The band was scheduled to perform on 21 January, but the Iranian authorities have simply banned it.
on the pretext of the presence of women members in the band.
The Kurdish group held a concert a few days ago at the Hotel Parsian of Kermanshah, and afterwards the band came under fierce criticisms in an article published by the hardliner website Marsad News, which is known to be close to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and famous for its radical Islamist views.
The website accused the band of having “undermined” Islamic values.
“The band Dayrak Khatoon has undermined the [Islamic] values of the people of Kermanshah when women sings solo tracks in the presence of officials of the city,” the website said.
A local source told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) that the organisers of the Festival cancelled the concert of Dayrak Khatoon on the pretext that women should not sing solo tracks.
The women from Kermanshah who are members of the band are playing tanbur, a local instrument of the Kermanshah area.
The band has held concerts across different cities of Iran over the past few years and the public has often warmly admired their performances.
The International Festival of Tribal Music is held from 19 to 22 January at the Kermanshah Theatre.
The festival has been organised by the local bureau of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Kermanshah Province.
