The Taliban in Afghanistan publicly burned dozens of musical instruments

In the Afghan province of Herat, a public burning of musical instruments and equipment took place on Sunday. The government of the “Taliban” considers any secular music ungodly and immoral. According to the provincial authorities, music has a bad influence on public morality.

As reported by the world media, dozens of guitars and other stringed instruments, keyboard instruments, drums, as well as audio speakers and amplifiers with a total value of thousands of dollars were set on fire in Herat.

Aziz Al-Rahman Al-Mujahir, the representative of Herat in the Afghan Ministry of Preservation of Virtue and Suppression of Vice, which is responsible for issues of ideology, said that the action with the burning of tools was the fulfillment of a fatwa (religious verdict) issued by local theologians. “Music corrupts morals and leads youth down a false path,” he said.

The founder of the now closed Afghan National Institute of Music, Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, who now lives in Portugal, called the Taliban’s actions vandalism and cultural genocide.

Timur Kuran, a professor at Duke University in the United States, recalled that since the Taliban came to power in 2021, musical instruments have been regularly confiscated in Afghanistan, and professional musicians have been subjected to persecution, including fines. Many of them were forced to emigrate. At the same time, there are no prohibitions regarding music in the Koran, Kuran clarified.

• Afghanistan has a centuries-old musical tradition, originating mainly in Persian music. The country has technologies for the production of folk musical instruments. The Taliban first banned the performance and listening of secular music during its previous period of power in the 1990s. The ban was restored after the coup in Kabul in 2021.
• After the Taliban came to power in 2021, human rights were massively violated in the country. Secular legislation has been almost completely replaced by Sharia law. In Afghanistan, persecution of dissidents and public treasury is practiced. Women are denied the right to education and work.
• “Taliban” is a radical Islamist group, recognized as a terrorist in many countries, including Russia. At the same time, the Russian government continues to maintain official political and business relations with the Afghan government of the Taliban.