Central Asia in the news

The World (PRI.org); Amber Larson, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly 

This Kyrgyz singer is getting death threats after releasing a music video and a song about women's rights 

Central Asian [the Buddha and his family were Central Asians/Scythians/Shakyians] singer Zere Asylbek's feminist song asks for respect for women -- but she's now facing threats and criticism over the clothing she wore in the music video for her song. 

Today, women's clothing in Afghanistan includes far more than the blue burqa

Fashion is powerful. It can be used as a political tool. It can be a statement about identity. It can also be healing. In Afghanistan, it is all of that and more. 

She saved a pregnant woman’s life. Now, she works to make childbirth safer for all Afghan women

The Taliban forbids women to leave the house unless they are accompanied by a male relative. Feroza Mushtari, who was a teenager at the time of the Taliban takeover, defied that rule to save a pregnant woman's life.

 

After surviving an attack on their school in Kabul, these students show that ‘education prevails’ 

In 2016, students at the American University in Kabul watched as gunmen opened fire on their school. More than a dozen people were killed and many more injured. But the attack didn't stop students from pursuing their dreams.