Maria: Beyond the Controversies of Parastoo Ahmadi's Concert, Focus Should Be on Women's Right to Sing

Different reactions continue regarding the arrest and subsequent release of Parastoo Ahmadi, a young Iranian singer, and two accompanying musicians at the hypothetical concert 'Caravansara' by the Islamic Republic. The performance of this concert in one of Iran's caravansaries featuring Parastoo Ahmadi on Wednesday, December 21, without mandatory hijab, and its live broadcast on YouTube garnered significant attention in social media and global media. Maria, a young Iranian singer who recently immigrated to Germany due to the restrictions and issues in the country, especially the ban on women's singing, is one of the artists who reacted to this issue. Maria is among the Iranian artists with a history of releasing various works in the field of protest music and is considered a well-known figure. Maria told Voice of America that over the past four decades, Iranian female singers have challenged the laws of the Islamic Republic in various ways and have been active in this regard. She adds that women in Iran have been fighting for the right to choose their attire or to sing for years, and each has played an important role in this cultural, artistic, social, and political campaign. According to Maria, Parastoo Ahmadi's concert and her companions should also be examined within this framework, and regardless of some surrounding controversies or critics' statements, the main focus should be on the primary goal, which is the right to sing for Iranian women. Referring to the widespread response to the hypothetical concert's broadcast on social media, she notes that in the current situation, we must use this momentum to more loudly challenge the misogynistic laws of the Islamic Republic and demand the right to sing for Iranian women. Maria states: 'All of us female singers are side by side in this path and share a common pain, which is the prohibition of women's singing in Iran. In the current situation, regardless of names and titles, every protest movement within this framework is valuable and should be supported.' In her view, this movement should continue regardless of the controversies raised by some critics, and it is the duty of Iranian artists, especially female singers, to be present and protest against this inhumane oppression of the Islamic Republic. Maria has called on all Iranian female singers on her social media account to sing a short piece and create a musical campaign on social media, demanding an end to this gender discrimination by the Islamic Republic. Following this concert, which has had about two million viewers on YouTube so far, the Islamic Republic's judiciary announced on Thursday, December 22, that a legal case has been opened in response to the publication of the 'hypothetical concert in a caravansary,' where 'a group is performing a piece of music with a woman singing without adhering to legal and religious standards.' The arrest and release of Parastoo Ahmadi occurred at '3 AM' after a 'briefing session' at the security police.