Afghan shops remove heads of mannequins in line with Taliban order
AFGHANISTAN: 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.”
– VOA