Aryana Sayeed is a famous Afghan pop star who recently had a harrowing escape from Kabul amid the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan.
An Afghan singer who has used her international fame to amplify calls for women's rights wore an all-enveloping veil to escape her homeland as the Taliban took Kabul.
Aryana Sayeed has divided her time between Turkey, Britain and Afghanistan and had been in Kabul in recent months to start a clothing business. She told Reuters in a weekend interview she received a call on Aug 14 warning her that the Taliban were closing in on the capital. When the Taliban last held power from 1996 to 2001, they brutally enforced an interpretation of Sharia law that banned women from work and school.
Here's everything you want to know about Aryana and her harrowing escape from Afghanistan.
1. Who is Aryana Sayeed?
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Aryana Sayeed is an Afghan pop singer, songwriter and TV personality who has sung several songs in Dari and Pashto. One of Afghanistan's famous singers, Aryana often performs at concerts and philanthropic festivals within Afghanistan and internationally as well. Sayeed has hosted musical television shows for 1TV and TOLO networks.
2. Aryana Sayeed: Background
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Born in Kabul, Aryana's parents left Afghanistan and went to Peshawar, Pakistan when she was 8. They finally settled in Switzerland.
3. Aryana Sayeed: Career
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Aryana's first single, in 2008, was 'MashAllah'. However, her career peaked after the release of her song 'Afghan Pesarak' in 2011. At the peak of her career, she performed at concerts and festivals and returned to Afghanistan to film a few songs. She performed at various events in Afghanistan over the years and also has a song 'Banoo e Atash Nasheen' which describes the pain the women of Afghanistan have faced over years of war and abuse, that got her critical acclaim.
4. Aryana Sayeed: Awards
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Aryana Sayeed has been conferred with the Afghan Icon Award (2017) and was named the 2017 Best Female Artist of Afghanistan. She has been honoured with the title "Voice of Afghanistan" from the Afghanistan National Television and Radio Network. Aryana has also received several awards for Best Song of the Year, Best Video of the Year, and a Bravery Award.
5. Aryana Sayeed is often called as Afghanistan's Kim Kardashian
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Yes, you read that right. Due to striking similarities, Aryana Sayeed is often compared to TV personality and fashion mogul Kim Kardashian. Aryana is often called Afghanistan's Kim K.
6. Aryana Saeed's harrowing escape from Kabul
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Sayeed and her fiance Hasib Sayed made reservations on a commercial flight scheduled for August 15, the day the Taliban entered Kabul, months after American troops ended U.S. involvement in the Afghan war. The overcrowded commercial flight never took off, Sayeed said in a Washington-area hotel, describing airport scenes of panic punctuated by the sound of gunfire. She and Sayed, fearful of being recognized by Taliban fighters, left the airport and sheltered with relatives in Kabul. The next day, they heard Taliban forces were searching door-to-door in their neighbourhood. Sayeed again went to the airport, wearing a veil that revealed only her eyes and travelling with Sayed's young cousin as if on a family outing.
"We passed through five Taliban checkpoints. One of them stopped our car," Sayeed said. "The minute he saw me and the little boy, he said, 'Go.'" Sayed, in a separate car, was the first to reach the U.S. military-controlled airport. Sayeed said he was recognized by an Afghan at the airport who told a U.S. official: "This is the fiance of a very famous singer in Afghanistan, and you should let him in because if they catch him, they will kill him."
Sayed, a Canadian citizen, was allowed in and contacted Sayeed. His relatives escorted her to the airport. The two flew out on a U.S. military plane early Aug. 17, landing first in Doha, Qatar. On Aug. 19 they reached the United States. She is now headed for Istanbul.
7. Aryana Sayeed calls on the international community to help Afghans, blames Pakistan for crisis in Afghanistan
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"I got lucky to get out of Afghanistan. But what about the rest of the people that are there?" Sayeed, a British citizen, told Reuters. Sayeed called on the international community not to forget Afghans, particularly women and children. "For the past 20 years, I mean, so many girls and so many women, they went to schools, they got educated. So many of them are school teachers, doctors ... so many achievements," Sayeed said. "How can it all just end, just like that?"
She urged them to put some pressure on Pakistan and also blamed the country for the current crisis in Afghanistan by empowering the Taliban. "I hope they can put some pressure on Pakistan, I personally believe that the current crisis in Afghanistan is because of Pakistan. Taliban are being funded by Pakistan, they are being instructed by Pakistan, their bases are in Pakistan where they get trained. So I hope the international community, first of all, cut their fund and they don't give funds to Pakistan so that they don't have enough money to fund Taliban," Sayeed told ANI.
8. Aryana Sayeed slams Prez Ashraf Ghani, calls him a coward
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In an exclusive interview with ANI from an undisclosed location, she said, "I am truly disappointed with the President (Ashraf Ghani), the way he left Afghanistan in hands of a bunch of Pakistanis. He let down our people, our country, our armed forces and military. How could we fight without any leaders?" "I was very sad and pissed off from him for what he did, that was very coward of him. The day we were leaving Afghanistan on August 15th, he was still giving speeches promising people that everything will be alright. But within the next few hours he disappeared," she added.
