Khaama Press, Increasing Security Threats; Taliban Places Restrictions on Ashura Ceremony in Northern Afghanistan, 7 August 2022
“Locals in Mazar-e-Sharif, in Balkh province of northern Afghanistan, say that the Taliban has prevented Ashura ceremony preparations at the shrine of Hazrat Ali, aka Rawza-e-Sharif, and denied permission to hold the Ashura event there for security reasons.”
The Guardian, Photographer Fatimah Hossaini: ‘In Kabul, there was so much hope and desire’, 7 August 2022
“The Afghan-Iranian artist narrowly escaped from Kabul to Paris last August, as the Taliban took over. She talks about the terror of that time, why she still longs for home, and her work photographing Afghan women in exile in France. […]“In Tehran, people are a little depressed with the situation. But in Kabul there was so much hope and desire. A new generation was burning with it. I could see women in every sector: musicians, entrepreneurs, artists, politicians. I could teach my classes at the university without a hijab. I could show my students any image I liked. These things would never happen in Iran.” But life really was about to change. When a newly elected Joe Biden confirmed in April 2021 that American troops would be withdrawn by 11 September, Taliban insurgents began to intensify their attacks on the Afghan state; in May, for instance, a car bomb outside a Kabul school killed more than 60 people, most of them schoolgirls. “Even I could see that the security situation was different,” Hossaini says. “Ilost two journalist friends [to Taliban attacks] during those months. […] But her mind was clear now: it was, she finally conceded, time to go. Like thousands upon thousands of other desperate Afghans, she pitched up at Kabul airport. She would spend the next four days there. “It was crazy,” she says. “Mothers abandoning their children;lovers abandoning each other. People were so desperate, they would do anything to leave”.”
The Guardian, 'Harassed here too’: Afghan artists find no sanctuary in Pakistan, 14 July 2022
“Now in Peshawar, Pakistan, Haikalzada said that after the Taliban returned musicians and artists were confined to their homes, musical institutions were closed and musicians hid their instruments. They had heard stories of the Taliban destroying musical instruments in Kabul.”Ustad Sanam Gul, 50, a renowned musician from Afghanistan who fled to Pakistan, was among them. Gul comes from a long line of musicians and had earned the title of ustad (teacher) from the state, with more than 60 students under his tutelage at his two academies in Kabul and Jalalabad.After Kabul fell, he opened a petrol station, but it was destroyed by the Taliban, who told him he could not work since he had promoted music and played for the state.
“The investigation concluded there was a pattern of “strikingly similar reports” of SAS operations known as kill/capture missions, in which an Afghan man or men were shot dead by the elite soldiers on night raids. Male detainees were frequently taken away from captured family groups and killed after they were said to have unexpectedly produced a grenade or gun, prompting the programme to ask whether the activities of the SAS squads amounted to a “British war crime”.
Gandhara, Afghan Bodybuilders Fear Taliban Restrictions Could Kill Their Popular Sport, 17 June 2022
“Mohammad has been sweating it out at the gym almost daily for the past four years in the hope of becoming a bodybuilder. But since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, his dream has faded. Even though the militant group has allowed the sport, it has ordered bodybuilders to cover up their bulging biceps, six-packs, and chiseled thighs during training and competitions. The Taliban is in conflict with everything that is beautiful." -- Sajjad Nuristani, journalist and fitness trainer Athletes and gym owners say the restrictions will kill the sport, which is focused on showcasing muscular development. In bodybuilding competitions worldwide, tanned athletes in tiny briefs flash their sculpted bodies. Mohammad is outraged by the Taliban order, which requires bodybuilders to cover their abdominal muscles and limbs with loose-fitting garments even while working out in gyms. "There are only men where we train," Mohammad, who did not reveal his full name for fear of retribution by the Taliban, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi. "The Taliban order has no religious justification, but it creates many problems for us." After the Taliban regime fell in 2001, bodybuilding become one of most popular sports in Afghanistan. Over 1,000 gyms sprung up across the war-torn country, including hundreds in the capital, Kabul, where huge posters of famous bodybuilders were visible in public.”
Gandhara, Gandhara Briefing: Pakistani Visas, Taliban Taxes, Afghan Bodybuilders, 17 June 2022
“Afghan Bodybuilders Told To Cover Up Radio Azadi reports on the Taliban ordering Afghan bodybuilders to cover up during training and competitions. The order by the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is the latest attempt by the militant group to police the appearance of Afghan men and women in public. The restriction on bodybuilders has been criticized by athletes. "The Taliban order has no religious justification, but it creates many problems for us," said Mohammad, an aspiring bodybuilder. While the Taliban has effectively banned all women's sports, bodybuilding is the first male sport the hard-line Islamists have sought to regulate.”
UNOCHR, Oral update on Afghanistan Statement by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 15 June 2022
“Further to this, despite the de facto authorities’ repeated public commitments to respect human rights, civic space has shrunk rapidly and dramatically since their return to power. Restrictions on freedom of opinion and expression, the right to peaceful assembly, and the right to participate in public affairs have all had a chilling effect on individuals and communities.”
AVA, National Mother's Day was celebrated in Kabul, 15 June 2022
“The Deputy of Culture and Arts of the Ministry of Information and Culture of the Islamic Emirate celebrated National Mother's Day on Tuesday afternoon (June 14th) and stressed the importance of respecting the rights and respect of the country's mothers. Meanwhile, Sheikh Hassan Khan Haqqani; The head of finance and the rights and respect of parents in Islam has a great philosophy that needs more time to explain."
Mawlavi Ghulam Mohammad Niazi; One of the religious scholars also said in this ceremony: Every mother is a woman; but not every woman is a mother. Mother is a sacred word that we cannot call every woman a mother. He said that Islam values the status of mother and said: in Islamic and Quranic culture, paradise is under the feet of mothers; but in the laws of human status not only the status of mothers is not preserved; It also disrespects the great position of the mother. Officials at the Ministry of Information and Culture of the Islamic Emirate are celebrating National Mother's Day, accused by the international community of violating the rights of women and mothers.”
AAN, Policing Public Morality: Debates on promoting virtue and preventing vice in the Taleban’s second Emirate, 15 June 2022
“The Taleban’s ‘religious police’ are back in force, leaving many Afghans fearing a return to the notorious brutalities of the Taleban’s 1990s Amr bil-Maruf ministry. Yet, two decades on, argues guest author Sabawoon Samim* (with input from Roxanna Shapour), Taleban views on the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice have evolved, as has Afghan society. While the Taleban still believe it is an Islamic state’s duty to actively police public morality, he also traces the emergence of a new generation of Taleban leaders, some of whom are less conservative, and asks whether they may take a softer approach to policing public morality than their predecessors. […]
Drawing on 45 interviews with Taleban officials, fighters, tribal elders, teachers and others in five provinces, plus the capital, Kabul, conducted before and after the Taleban captured power [1] this report looks at Amr bil-Maruf in the two Taleban administrations twenty years apart. It considers the religious injunction that Muslims should hold each other accountable by promoting virtue and discouraging vice. We take a look at what was problematic about Amr bil-Maruf in the Taleban’s first Emirate and how it changed during the insurgency. We relay ideas generally among the Taleban about what policing public morality should involve and at the re- established Amr bil-Maruf ministry – at how and why it has differed, so far, from the 1990s. In particular, the author looks at what sets at least some members of the new generation of Taleban leaders apart from their predecessors, and at how this might influence the Taleban’s approach to policy and practice when it comes to policing public morality.”
Pajhwok, Our business at a standstill, say Ghazni barbers, 14 June 2022
“Barbers in southern Ghazni province say their work has come to a standstill following restrictions on trimming beard and cutting stylish hairs. The Vice and Virtue departments have imposed new restrictions in various provinces, including Ghazni. The departments have asked people not to shave beards and avoid growing stylish hairs.”
Al Jazeera, Nabi Roshan: Afghanistan’s Jon Stewart forced into exile, 8 June 2022
“Nabi Roshan was a renowned comedian, dubbed by many as the Jon Stewart of Afghanistan, with his show aired on the country’s largest TV network – watched by millions each week. But last August he was forced to flee the country after the Taliban armed group took over the country 20 years after it was driven out of power in a United States-led military invasion. He is now among more than 3,000 Afghan refugees based in Albania. […] Roshan tries to keep a low profile but he often gets stopped by admirers – fellow Afghan refugees – who recognise him from his Shabak-e-Khanda (Laughter Network) show – popularly known as Afghanistan’s SNL. And often he is invited to speak at gatherings of the small Afghan community living at the refugee centre in Shegjin, a small town by the Adriatic Sea.”
Afghan Voice Agency, Karzai: Afghans want girls’ schools to reopen, 26 April 2022
“Afghan Voice Aegncy [Sic] (AVA)_In an interview with the BBC, the former president insisted: “There is no way that the country can live without our girls going to school.” He added: “I am sure (secondary) schools for will reopen because that is what the Afghan people want.” Despite impassioned calls from different quarters, girl students above grade six have been out of school for the past 120 days.”
administration of the tourism department of the Ministry of Information and Culture said: "The discussion about US DOS, 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Afghanistan, 12 April 2022 “After August 15, the Taliban generally did not respect freedom of association.”
Ariana News, IEA cancel public holiday for Nowruz but say celebrations allowed, 21 March 2022
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) said there would be no public holiday for the Persian New Year this week, but stated they would not stop people from celebrating the festival. Persian New Year, known as Nowruz and celebrated throughout Iran and Central Asia, is a popular festival in Afghanistan and is usually marked by a public holiday, when families gather to prepare festive dishes and welcome the beginning of spring. Mohammad Yunus Sidiqi, spokesman for the labour ministry, told Reuters that there would be no official public holiday on Monday, when Nowruz was set to take place. An information ministry spokesman said the holiday was not in accordance with Islamic law, but that private celebrations by civilians would be allowed. “We are not officially celebrating Nowruz,” said Abdul Ahad Amad, head of publications at the information ministry. “If people want to do something we are not preventing them.””
Ava Press, Playing Music Is Fiercely Forbidden: The Taliban Have Imposed New Restrictions on Local Artists in Kapisa, 6 March 2022
“The Taliban have recently launched a series of house-to-house clean-up operations and crackdowns on artists, which has caused great concern. [...] Local artists in province[s] have expressed concern about restrictions imposed by local officials in the province, saying that their economic problems and security concerns have multiplied since the fall of the republic. They say their professional lives are under threat. Local artists in Kapisa are asking the authorities to allow them to work again. This is while, officials [in the] Vice and Virtue department in Kapisa say that playing music is strongly forbidden by Sharia law and a crime by the Taliban.”
Khaama Press, Khost province residents ordered to remove Afghanistan’s flags from homes, 27 February 2022 “
The provincial governor of the eastern Khost province Muhammad Nabi Omari ordered residents of the province to collect and remove Afghanistan’s (black, red, green) flag from the rooftops of their homes and houses and from their vehicles. The provincial head of the Taliban in a gathering on Saturday, February 26, 2022, said that the citizens of Khost province only have three days to remove flags. “You are given only three days to remove the flags from your homes, shops, and cars. Hanging the white flag of the Taliban is optional and no one is forcing you to do that but the previous flag is no longer acceptable.” Said Muhammad Nabi Omari.
The central administration in the capital Kabul has not officially commented on the accounts of Omari yet. Earlier, a spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Zabiullah Mujahid had said that the decision about the national flag and keeping the previous flag is not yet finalized. Meanwhile, the Afghan people have been urging the Taliban not to change the flag as the (black, red, green) flag is a national interest and belongs to no leader and faction.”
Gandhara, Outrage Stoked By Video Of Taliban Humiliating Musicians, Burning Instruments, 18 January 2022
“Afghan singer Goodar Zazai says he wept as he saw a recent video of the Taliban humiliating two local musicians and burning their instruments. Filmed near the border with Pakistan in the Zazai Aryub district of Paktia Province, the musicians’ heads had been crudely shaved by members of the Taliban's feared Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. It is a common punishment imposed by the Taliban against those suspected of minor crimes. In this case, the men had violated the Taliban’s ban on music by playing Pashtun folks songs on a hand-pumped harmonium and a large wooden drum known as a dhol. The musicians appear to have been beaten. [...] Hundreds of musicians, fearing similar abuse, have fled Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in August [...] Its [the Taliban] position on music was inconsistent immediately after Taliban fighters stormed Kabul on August 15. That is because there was not any clear order issued beyond a public statement from Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who declared music to be “un-Islamic.””
Deutsche Welle, Hundreds of Afghan artists need protection, 20 December 2021
“Meanwhile, more and more Afghan artists are receiving death threats, are living underground or hiding their works, or even destroying them. Some of them are attempting to flee the country across national borders on their own □— only to end up in third countries that are also unsafe.”NBC, Afghanistan’s only music school completes exit from Kabul fearing Taliban crackdown, 18 November 2021 “The last two of more than 270 students, faculty and staff from Afghanistan’s only music school have left the country in the wake of the Taliban takeover, the institution's founder said on Thursday.”
AAN, Music Censorship in 2021: The silencing of a nation and its cultural identity, 17 November 2021
“Music and musicians once again face serious threats following Afghanistan’s takeover by the Taleban in August this year. Over the past two decades, the theory and practice of traditional Afghan instruments, as well as other musical forms, has seen a remarkable revival after the destruction of the country’s musical heritage during the 1990s, with skills being passed on to a new generation of performers. Now, musicians are once again being forced to relocate abroad. This means they will only be able to keep their musical heritage and identity alive from beyond Afghanistan’s borders, jeopardising an already fragile but important recent shift in how music and musicians are perceived in Afghan society. Fabrizio Foschini looks at the hardships that have befallen Afghan musicians and the risks that music faces once again. [...]
The Taleban never publicised their official position on music during their 20-year war against the Afghan government. Musicians were occasionally targeted but most likely as a means of reasserting the Taleban’s authority in the first years of the insurgency (see for example here). In Taleban-held areas, the treatment of musicians depended largely on local commanders’ relationships with communities or the presence of musicians in areas under their control (See this report in the Telegraph). [...] However, a clearer glimpse of their future attitudes to music emerged once they consolidated their hold on towns which fell during their 2021 spring-summer offensive. In Balkh, for example, which they captured on 21 June, the Taleban implemented a ban on music. Local radio stations were only allowed to play religious chants and men caught listening to music in the bazaar were reportedly subjected to corporal punishments. [...]
The days following the fall of the Republic on 15 August were marked by the destruction of musical instruments, either as a political message or acts of vandalism. This not only intimidates, it also takes away the means for people to earn their living, especially given how expensive and beloved instruments are. In the capital, unidentified armed men entered the Afghan National Institute of Music (ANIM), tried to steal the institute’s vehicles and reportedly destroyed a number of instruments (NPR reporting here). On 27 August, several pianos and tabla were smashed when a Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) studio was vandalised (see, for example, this India Today report). In Jalalabad, the Taleban targeted music shops, reportedly as early as 15 August, the day they entered the city. They doused instruments with petrol, set them on fire in the city’s streets and ordered musicians to find other jobs. Music shops across the country were closed down within days and have remained so ever since (see here).
In an event that shocked the nation on 27 August, Taleban fighters took Fawad Andarabi, a player of the ghichak, a type of bowed lute, from his home and shot him dead (see here). The fact that the killing happened during the Taleban’s military offensive in Panjshir by way of the Andarab valley did not diminish the significance of this event. Fawad Andarabi had been at home when Taleban fighters, who had already paid him a visit, returned and summarily executed him (see here).
Since then, there have been occasional reports of incidents involving musicians or performances. For example, Kabuli musicians told AAN that a duo of dhol (percussion) and sorna (woodwind) players were on their way to a wedding when the Taleban stopped them near the old city’s main roundabout and broke their instruments. On 17 September, an Afghan journalist (@TajudenSoroush) reported on Twitter that Taleban militants had overrun a wedding party in Takhar province and beaten up a group of female musicians who were playing for an all-female audience. More recently, on 29 October, gunmen introducing themselves as Taleban opened fire on a wedding in Surkhrod district in Nangrahar after guests tried to stop them from smashing loudspeakers, killing at least two people and injuring ten others. The couples getting married in the joint ceremony had reportedly received permission from a local Taleban commander to play recorded music in the area reserved for women. The Taleban have sought to distance themselves from the incident and later announced they had arrested two of the perpetrators, saying the attack had started because of a personal feud. Like many of the Taleban’s new legal provisions, their ban on music has not been officially announced or explained;
it has emerged over time through a series of declarations, prohibitions and measures (see this Gandhara report). Taleban spokesmen, for example, have denounced music as un-Islamic (see Newsweek report here) and Taleban officials have met the owners of hotels, restaurants and wedding halls in Kabul and instructed them to avoid live music. As Zabiullah Mujahed told The New York Times: “Music is forbidden in Islam … but we’re hoping that we can persuade people not to do such things, instead of pressuring them.”
However, the forms of ‘persuasion’ employed have not excluded force: Afghan musicians and DJs have been repeatedly intimidated and subject to violence by Taleban – although individuals were arguably acting beyond their mandate in the case of the worst attacks. They have also seen their instruments and professional paraphernalia destroyed. At this rate, the Taleban may succeed in convincing musicians to give up their profession, without the government having to announce a ban officially (see this AP report). What is certain, is that many musicians are nowadays burying their instruments and trying to leave the country. [...]
Their current attitude towards music appears to be the same as the one they adopted then – rejection of most forms of music. Music is seen as something that is ‘dangerous’, distracting the mind from religion and causing people to have sinful thoughts. [...]
The Taleban’s own use of music, which has been the subject of a number of studies over the past decade, has almost exclusively focused on tarana – poems in praise of their fighters [1] grounded in melodies and texts deeply rooted in Pashtun folk culture, but unaccompanied by instruments. The absence of instruments is a major criterion for the perceived lawfulness of music by the movement. [2] These tarana became a major propaganda tool for the Taleban during their nearly two-decades-long insurgency, possibly one of central importance for winning the fight “for hearts and minds” of Pashtun youths in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They had, however, already been composed and performed by the Taleban in the 1990s. [3]
Apart from the tarana, the only other forms of musical performance endorsed by the Taleban are compositions in their praise or strictly devotional music (see here) such as the marsyeh (requiem) or na’t (a recitation in praise of the Prophet Muhammad). Yet once again, the distinction seems to be largely between vocal and instrumental performances, rather than devotional versus secular, as the musical gatherings at the Sufi Chishti Khanaqah in Old Kabul, a devotional practice considered as ghaza-ye ruh (food for the soul) have all but stopped since the Taleban’s takeover. (See the author’s piece about the music scene in Old Kabul here.)”
AVA Press, A Young Boy Killed for Listening to Music in Badakhshan, 13 November 2021
“Afghan Voice Agency (AVA)_A 19-year-old young boy was shot for listening to music by the , sources in Badakhshan said.The incident took place in the Zargaran village, Ashkashum district of on (Tuesday, November 9), sources told Hasht-e Subh. The young victim was named Wahidullah and had just graduated from school. was shot by the Taliban while he was listening to music.According to the sources, the Taliban first checked his cell phone, and when they found out that he was listening to music they beat and shot him. He died due to severe bleeding while taking to the hospital, sources told Hasht-e Subh. The Taliban haven’t shown any reactions to the incident.In addition, beard shaving and haircut as “-style” have been banned in some provinces as well by the Taliban.”
BBC, Afghanistan: Gunmen attach wedding to stop music being played, 31 October 2021
“Gunmen who identified themselves as Taliban attacked a wedding in eastern Afghanistan to stop music being played, killing at least two people and injuring 10 others, officials say. A Taliban spokesman said two of the three gunmen had been arrested but denied they had acted on behalf of the Islamist movement.Music was banned when the Taliban ruled the country from 1996 to 2001. The new authorities have not yet issued such a decree.”
Al Jazeera, Afghan National Music Institute strikes a chord in Qatar, 23 October 2021
“About 96 members of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, or ANIM, which includes faculty and musicians have fled their homes in Afghanistan. [...] The school’s doors have been closed since mid-August. The building is now under constant patrol by the Taliban. Situation on the ground Since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan there has not been an outright ban on music, but rather restrictions, such as no loud music is to be played in public. Out of fear of potential consequences, several radio and TV stations in Kabul have ceased the broadcast of music or entertainment they believe might go against the Taliban’s practices and governance, which continue to be moulded and reshaped.”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Gandhara, ‘I Feel Like A Dead Fish’: Silenced By The Taliban, Afghanistan's Musicians Despair, 13 October 2021
“Ahmad Gholami, a 25-year-old Afghan musician, had dedicated his life to the art of playing a sitar-like lute called the tanbur.But after nearly a decade mastering the instrument well enough to earn his living as a professional musician, the Taliban has banned music under its tribal interpretation of Islamic law. Gholami and other musicians he knows have effectively been silenced by an order from the Taliban-installed police chief in the central province of Bamiyan who has declared that no singing or musical instruments are allowed in his jurisdiction. [...] the Taliban has beaten musicians in some areas, burned instruments, and banned music. That has led hundreds of musicians to flee the country in fear of their lives. [...] Now, the Taliban’s Information and Culture Ministry says music is “forbidden” under its strict Hanafi interpretation of Islamic law.One of the first things Taliban fighters did in August when they seized control of Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar Province, was to break into a music studio used by well-known Afghan musicians.The militants dragged their harmonium, lutes, drums, and other instruments out into the street -- dousing them with petrol and setting them ablaze.
Noman Khan and other musicians who had used the studio promptly fled the country in fear of their lives. [...] Meanwhile, local Taliban authorities in Afghanistan continue to issue decrees outlawing music in the capital, Kabul, and in major cities like Kandahar, Herat, and Mazar-e Sharif. Siddiqullah, the Taliban-installed police chief in Bamiyan, justifies the bans and the destruction of instruments by arguing that nobody is allowed to play music.”
Jurist.org, Afghanistan dispatches: ‘The Taliban have banned live music in hotels’, 9 October 2021
“The Taliban have banned live music in hotels. Officials of Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice – which was established by the Taliban after the took control of Afghanistan – met with most of hotel owners in Kabul Wednesday. In this meeting, the Taliban instructed the hotel owners to avoid live music, and segregate places of men and women in the hotels. They already did this in some other provinces as well. In Takhar they even beat up a groom because he brought live music to his wedding ceremony.
In Afghanistan, hotels and restaurants are regulated by the specific laws and regulations under authority of the Ministry of Information and Culture. They obtain licenses from this Ministry and the Government uses this Ministry to communicate with them. The Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice – as you understand from its name – will now establish policies for each and every government agency through which they will tell people what is right and what is wrong.
Previously, women and men were separated but only by a partition made of plastic or other stuff, but they have now made it clear that hotel owners have to separate them by walls. This indicates that they still hold the opinion of prohibiting music in the country. I actually think that this is a starting point for them to slowly ban music. In other statements, one of the Taliban’s top leaders has told the media that if singers stop singing he will give them an amount of 40K AFN on a monthly basis. These statements are clearly a sign that there will be no musicians in the country, and those who choose to stay will have to change their profession and seek another source of income.”
The Guardian, ‘A friend tells me he is burning his paintings’: Afghan artists in Australia speak on 20 years of war, 6 October 2021
“The Afghanistan-born visual artist and poet Elyas Alavi, who gained asylum in Australia as a Hazara refugee in 2007, staged an exhibition of his work in Kabul in 2014 and returned to his home country again in 2016. He said he now feared he may never be able to return to Afghanistan.“A friend tells me he is burning his paintings ... and I’ve heard of people burning their philosophy books and art books,” he said.
“Now he and some of his family, most of them are living in hiding because they just don’t know what’s going to happen. The Taliban are checking people’s mobiles ... looking for [content] that is against Sharia law, and they are [targeting] writers, artists, the LGBTQI community.”Alavi said the Afghan-Australian community felt betrayed by the Australian government.
“The prime minister says Afghanistan is a tragic country with a tragic history and Australia cannot do anything, it is the fate of these people and it’s always going to be a tragedy,” the now Adelaide-based artist said. “But the government can get more people at risk out, more than the 3,000 extra visas they’ve announced ... and there are no permanent visas for those who are already here.”
Ariana News, Afghan Film emphasis on making serials based on Afghanistan realities, 4 October 2021
“Jawed Afghan, the new director of Afghan Films, was recently appointed by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), and says that he will develop the directorate of Afghan Film and, using its past capabilities, show the true story of Afghanistan to the world. The director of Afghan Film emphasized the increase in the number of employees of this institution and the production of new films. Afghan Film is Afghanistan’s main government cinema institution, which has been around for decades and has played an important role in supporting and strengthening Afghan cinema. [...]
Although the director of Afghan Film does not say anything about the continued presence of female staff in the film industry, but he emphasized that the employees of this institution will continue their work as in the past and using the past capacities, the current narratives of the country will be shown to the world. [...] Afghan Film is considered one of the most important directorates in the production of Afghan films; an office whose archive also narrates the history of Afghanistan. But it is not yet clear what type of films and series this directorate will make and whether it will be allowed to reopen cinemas in Afghanistan.”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Gandhara, Fearing Taliban Crackdown, Afghan Musicians Are Already Falling Silent, 10 September 2021
“Habibullah Shabab found his calling as a singer -- but since the Taliban's return to power, he's given up performing and instead makes a living as a shopkeeper. The Taliban has not yet imposed a ban on music as it did in the 1990s, but Shabab and others fear such a policy is imminent, stripping many musicians of their livelihoods.”