Herat: Taliban Shop owners in western Afghanistan have been ordered to behead effigies, insisting that figures representing the human form violate Islamic law.
A video clip showing men in Herat banging shop dummys on their heads has gone viral on social media, drawing scorn both inside and outside the country.
Since returning to power in August, the Taliban have harshly interpreted Islamic law and severely curtailed the freedoms of women and girls in particular.
While radical Islamists have issued no formal national policy on effigies – or other creeping restrictions – various local officials are cracking down on what they say.
Aziz Rahman, the head of the ministry for the promotion of virtue and the vice of prevention in Herat, confirmed the order to AFP on Wednesday.
Some shopkeepers had tried to behead the effigy by covering it with a scarf or bag, but Rahman said it didn’t go far enough.
“If they cover only their heads or hide the entire effigy, the Messenger of Allah will not enter their shop or house and bless them,” he said.
The order angered many shopkeepers numbering about six lakh in the city.
“As you can see, we have cut off the heads,” Bashir AhmedAttaching each dummy cost 5,000 afghanis (about $50), a clothing vendor told AFP.
“How can you expect us to sell your products when there is no mannequin? Customers love it when the garment is properly draped over a mannequin.”
Returning to power on August 15, the Taliban promised a softer version of the hard rule that characterized their first term in power from 1996 to 2001, when any artificial representation of the human form was outlawed.
But restrictions have been rolled back, with local reports of orders asking people to attend prayer five times a day, men growing beards and Western clothing to be discouraged.
Women, in particular, are bearing the brunt of the new orders, and are gradually falling out of public life.
Most secondary schools for girls are closed, women have been barred from government employment except in select specific sectors, and new guidelines last week said they can’t make long journeys unless a man is with them. Don’t be a relative
The Taliban have also intensified raids on liquor sellers, cornered drug addicts and banned music.
His takeover has devastated the economy of aid-dependent Afghanistan, which has accumulated billions of dollars in assets. United States of america And international aid has largely stalled.
However, the UN Security Council last week adopted a US resolution to help humanitarian aid reach desperate Afghans, keeping the money out of the hands of the Taliban government, which has yet to be recognized by any country.
A video clip showing men in Herat banging shop dummys on their heads has gone viral on social media, drawing scorn both inside and outside the country.
Since returning to power in August, the Taliban have harshly interpreted Islamic law and severely curtailed the freedoms of women and girls in particular.
While radical Islamists have issued no formal national policy on effigies – or other creeping restrictions – various local officials are cracking down on what they say.
Aziz Rahman, the head of the ministry for the promotion of virtue and the vice of prevention in Herat, confirmed the order to AFP on Wednesday.
Some shopkeepers had tried to behead the effigy by covering it with a scarf or bag, but Rahman said it didn’t go far enough.
“If they cover only their heads or hide the entire effigy, the Messenger of Allah will not enter their shop or house and bless them,” he said.
The order angered many shopkeepers numbering about six lakh in the city.
“As you can see, we have cut off the heads,” Bashir AhmedAttaching each dummy cost 5,000 afghanis (about $50), a clothing vendor told AFP.
“How can you expect us to sell your products when there is no mannequin? Customers love it when the garment is properly draped over a mannequin.”
Returning to power on August 15, the Taliban promised a softer version of the hard rule that characterized their first term in power from 1996 to 2001, when any artificial representation of the human form was outlawed.
But restrictions have been rolled back, with local reports of orders asking people to attend prayer five times a day, men growing beards and Western clothing to be discouraged.
Women, in particular, are bearing the brunt of the new orders, and are gradually falling out of public life.
Most secondary schools for girls are closed, women have been barred from government employment except in select specific sectors, and new guidelines last week said they can’t make long journeys unless a man is with them. Don’t be a relative
The Taliban have also intensified raids on liquor sellers, cornered drug addicts and banned music.
His takeover has devastated the economy of aid-dependent Afghanistan, which has accumulated billions of dollars in assets. United States of america And international aid has largely stalled.
However, the UN Security Council last week adopted a US resolution to help humanitarian aid reach desperate Afghans, keeping the money out of the hands of the Taliban government, which has yet to be recognized by any country.
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