Taliban set ablaze guitar, tabla & speakers as crackdown widens; 'Music misguides youth'

The atrocities of the draconian Taliban administration continue in Afghanistan as the regime’s religious police set ablaze dozens of musical instruments. According to The Independent, the police reasoned that these musical instruments are causing “destruction to the society”. The authorities warned that these musical instruments have the potential to “corrupt” society.

As per the report, the local head of the Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, Sheikh Aziz al-Rahman al-Mujahir said that music can “misguide the youth and can cause destruction of society”. 

The photos of the officials burning the instruments went viral on social media platforms. Four men can be seen standing next to the bonfire of the musical instruments that were collected from across the country. According to The Independent, most of these instruments were collected from wedding halls and were set on fire in the western province of Herat. 

Guitar, Tabla, Speakers Go Up In Flames In Taliban Bonfire
"Promoting music causes moral corruption and playing it will cause the youth to go astray,"
~~Aziz al-Rahman al-Muhajir, head of the Herat department of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. pic.twitter.com/91c9AH47EG

— RajBhaduriAviator (@RajBhads90) July 30, 2023

Recalling the Taliban regime in the 90s

The move is similar to the one the extremist group imposed during their brief rule in the 90s. All forms of music and other forms of entertainment were banned from social gatherings, TV and radio while the Taliban was in power in Afghanistan from the mid-90s until 2001. 

Ever since the regime came to power in 2021, it has imposed several severe restrictions and defended it by calling it a strict interpretation of Islamic law. The women faced the major brunt of it. Teenage girls and women across the country have been barred from entering schools, university classrooms, gyms and parties. 

Earlier this month, the draconian regime ordered all hair and beauty salons across the country to shut down its operation. Taliban deemed these salons as “un-Islamic”. The recent move was condemned by people around the world. “Nothing in Quran prohibits music. Nothing. Period. Taliban 'Vice & Virtue' Department is not grounded in Islam but in hatred, fear & insecurity. Denying a people of its pride, joy, heritage & soul is the first step in achieving its control, subjugation & oppression,” a Twitter user wrote on Monday.   

Nothing in Quran prohibits music. Nothing. Period.

Taliban “Vice & Virtue” Department is not grounded in Islam but in hatred, fear & insecurity. Denying a people of its pride, joy, heritage & soul is the first step in achieving its control, subjugation & oppression https://t.co/5ye4I84CZl

— D Tazeh | داگی تازه (@DTazeh) July 30, 2023