Like most teenagers, 19-year-old Negin Khpalwak in Afghanistan loves music; but only a few at her age and in her place have battled as fiercely as she has to pursue her passion in the face of grave threats from both family members as well as outsiders.

While playing instruments was completely banned in Afghanistan under Taliban’s rule, most conservative Muslims continue to frown upon any sort of musical endeavor even today. But Khpalwak took to learning music in secrecy, before finally letting her father know about her passion. Despite all his encouragement and her own skills, Khpalwak received little to no support from the rest of her family members, who belong to the conservative Pashtun tribe.

“Apart from my father, everybody in the family is against it,” she said. “They say, 'How can a Pashtun girl play music?' Especially in our tribe, where even a man doesn't have the right to do it.”

Currently living in an orphanage in Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul, Khpalwak happens to be the conductor of Zohra orchestra, which constitutes 35 women, playing both Afghan and Western musical instruments, at Afghanistan National Institute of Music. After mastering the piano on her own, she moved to Kabul 10 years ago so she could continue pursuing her passion by studying music.

Apparently, when Khpalwak decided to visit her home in Kunar Province recently, her brothers and uncles threatened to have her beaten for performing on television. Undeterred, she returned to Kabul the following day.

“Compared to women outside Afghanistan, we feel we are in a cage,” she said.

In a country that is notorious for imposing stringent restrictions on women in most areas of their lives, Khpalwak’s story may highlight a double challenge.

“By educating people and promoting arts and culture in the community, I strongly believe that we will be seen changing the most radical forces of this country… The formation of the orchestra is an achievement in itself,” said musicologist Ahmad Naser Sarmast.

According to Sarmast—who returned to the country from Australia after the fall of the Taliban and helped found Afghanistan National Institute of Music in 2010—children enrolled at the school usually find support in their parents; though there is a lot of pressure from the extended family and religious authorities that sometimes deters them from following their dreams.

Photo Credits: BBC News