Shaima Rezayee ( prs, شیما رضایی) (1981 – May 18, 2005) was a TV presenter on the

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

music television channel, Tolo TV. Rezayee was a rising star in the post-Taliban ruled Afghanistan, specially very popular among the youth. She was also the first female western-style music presenter to appear on television in Afghanistan's conservative history. In March 2005, Shaima Rezayee lost her job on the popular show ''Hop'', an Afghan programme with content similar to the global music video channel

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, after the programme was criticised by local

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic clerics. One of the most outspoken critics of ''Hop'' was Fazl Hadi Shinwari, a chief justice of the

Afghan Supreme Court prs, دادگاه عالی , image = Logo of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.jpg , imagesize = 150 , alt = , caption = Logo of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan , image2 ...

. He was quoted as saying ''"It opwill corrupt our society, culture and most importantly, it will take our people away from Islam and destroy our country... This will make our people accept another culture, and make our country a laughing stock around the world."'' Rezayee herself was a central focus of the criticism, mainly for her western style of dress. This was believed by the religious authorities to be 'corrupting' the youth of Afghanistan. The only female presenter on the show, Rezayee with her family had fled her home in Kabul to neighboring Pakistan during the five years that the Taliban controlled Kabul. On 18 May 2005, Rezayee was shot dead at her home in

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, a neighbourhood of Kabul. She was the first journalist to be killed in Afghanistan since the end of the

Afghan civil war War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...

in 2001. Press freedom organisation Reporters sans frontières and local authorities believe her killing was linked to her work as a presenter on Tolo TV. Tolo TV is the first private TV station established in Afghanistan. Previously, there has always been only one TV station in Kabul which was run and controlled by the government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rezayee, Shaima Hazara artists 1981 births 2005 deaths Afghan murder victims Deaths by firearm in Afghanistan People murdered in Afghanistan Afghan television presenters Afghan women television presenters

See also

References