Afghan Taliban burn piles of music instruments claiming ‘music corrupts morality’

The Taliban on Monday burned musical instruments worth thousands of dollars in the western Herat province of Afghanistan, defending their actions with the argument that music corrupts morality, according to BBC.

The Taliban have implemented numerous limitations since taking over in 2021, including a prohibition on public musical performances. The founder of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, Ahmad Sarmast, has compared this artistic repression to “cultural genocide and musical vandalism.”

Dr Sarmast, who is currently living in Portugal, expressed his concern about the Afghan people’s lack of access to artistic freedom, noting that the Taliban’s rule has resulted in widespread cultural destruction throughout the nation, of which the burning of musical instruments in Herat is just one example.

Online images reveal that a guitar, a harmonium, a tabla (a type of drum), as well as amplifiers and speakers, were among the things set on fire after the items were confiscated from wedding venues in the city.

An official from the Taliban’s Vice and Virtue Ministry justified the burning of musical instruments by stating that playing music could lead the youth astray.

This is not the first instance of such an event organised by the Taliban, as a similar bonfire of instruments took place on 19 July, though the exact location was not disclosed in the government’s Twitter post.

During the Taliban’s previous rule in Afghanistan from the mid-90s until 2001, all forms of music were banned from social gatherings, television, and radio.

However, in the two decades that followed, a vibrant music scene emerged in the country. Nevertheless, with the Taliban’s resurgence in August 2021, many musicians chose to flee Afghanistan to escape potential persecution.

Reports indicate that singers and musicians who remained in the country have faced beatings and discrimination.

Under their strict interpretation of religious law, the Taliban has imposed various severe restrictions in the past two years.

Women have been particularly affected, as they are required to dress in a way that only exposes their eyes and must be accompanied by a male relative if they travel beyond 72 kilometres.

Furthermore, teenage girls and women have been prohibited from entering school and university classrooms, gyms, and parks. Just recently, the Taliban ordered all hair and beauty salons across the country to shut down, viewing them as un-Islamic.