From VOA:
“Afghan Shops Remove Heads of
Mannequins in Line With Taliban Order”
Clothing shops in Afghanistan’s
western Herat province have begun removing the heads of display mannequins, in
line with new directives given by the local office of the Taliban’s ministry
for Islamic guidance. Obeidullah Yari, a local business community
leader, told VOA on Monday that about 20% of the shops in the provincial
capital, also named Herat, have already implemented the order to escape
punishment. The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention
Vice, which is responsible for administering the Taliban’s interpretation of
Islam, decreed last week that shop mannequins should have their heads removed
for being offensive to Islam, warning that violators would be punished. City
mall owners and garment sellers initially criticized the Taliban directive,
telling Afghan media that mannequins were also used to display clothes in other
Islamic counties. But Yari said shopkeepers were now removing the heads of the
dummies. Aziz Rahman, the provincial head of the ministry, told local media he
ordered shopkeepers to hack the heads off their mannequins because “they are
idols.” He went on to explain that Islam prohibits idolatry, or the worshipping
of idols.
Taliban authorities reportedly
have also increased monitoring of public taxis in the capital, Kabul, to see if
drivers are abiding by the ministry’s instructions related to women's right to
travel. The decree requires drivers to carry only those female passengers who
wear a headscarf or Islamic hijab and are accompanied by a male relative if
they travel more than 72 kilometers. It also instructs cabdrivers to grow
beards, stop their vehicles at prayer times and stop playing music while
driving. The ministry reportedly has also banned Afghan women from driving. It
has also ordered local channels to stop showing dramas and soap operas
featuring actresses, and female news anchors to wear hijabs while on the air. Taliban
chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, in a recent interview to Afghan state
television, defended the steps taken by the Ministry for the Promotion of
Virtue and the Prevention Vice, saying they should not be a matter of concern
for anyone because “Afghanistan is Muslim nation and no one is opposed to
Islamic laws in the country.” Mujahid said, however, that all government
“religious departments” are instructed not to “mistreat people and be polite to
them" while giving them guidance about Islam.
The ultraconservative Taliban
regained power in August and named an all-male interim Cabinet to govern the
conflict-torn country in line with the group’s strict interpretation of Islam,
despite pledging not to revert to the harsh polices of their previous regime
from 1996 to 2001. The government has
allowed schoolboys to return to classes but girls across many Afghan provinces
are still waiting for permission to do so and most women have been prevented
from returning to work. When the Taliban were last in power, girls were not allowed
to attend school and women were barred from work as well as education. The
then-Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, or the morals
police, had been accused of serious human rights abuses, leading to
Afghanistan’s isolation from the world.
Mujahid said that arrangements
were being made to allow all Afghan girls to resume their educational
activities, noting that schoolgirls across several provinces have already
rejoined classes. Critics, however, are skeptical of the Taliban assurances and
say the group is gradually bringing back its repressive policies of the past. “It
was expected; but I would have welcomed every single employee of this ministry
to be focused on poverty reduction, aid delivery and lifting the beggars from
the street, feeding them & giving them a job as their 1st priority,”
tweeted Torek Farhadi, a former Afghan official.
The United States and the global
community at large have not recognized the new Taliban government and suspended
most non-humanitarian financial assistance to the aid-dependent country. Foreign
countries continue to refuse to open direct political engagement with the
Islamist group until it ensures respect for human rights, especially those of
women, runs the country inclusively and cuts ties with transnational
terrorists. Meanwhile, Afghanistan is in the grip of a severe humanitarian
crisis stemming from years of war, drought and poverty. The United Nations has
repeatedly warned that more than half the population in the country are facing
starvation, with nearly a million children at risk of dying because of a
“severe acute malnutrition.”
^ Maybe the Taliban should stop
focusing on these stupid edicts (headless mannequins, going after women’s
rights, making sure men have beards, etc.) and start focusing on the real
problems of ruling Afghanistan – like getting people food and basic medical
care. It doesn’t seem the Taliban have changed in the past 20 years- except in their words (but their actions are
the same as before.) The US and every other country should not recognize or
help the Taliban until they stop their anti-women polices. ^
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