Afghanistan: Taliban order closure of coffee shops and ‘no music’ at wedding halls
In another contentious rule, the Taliban directed the coffee sellers and wedding halls to either change their profession or face “rigorous laws”.
In another contentious rule, the Taliban directed the coffee sellers and wedding halls to either change their profession or face “rigorous laws”. “Within three months, sell your coffee shops, so reform can be brought into the society,” Tolo News quoted Mawlawi Abdul Ghafar Farooq, head of the Nimroz Department of Vice and Virtue as saying in a statement released on Wednesday.
According to the Taliban-led administration, the coffee sellers are not obeying the Islamic rule and used to sell their coffee even at the time of prayer. While he accused the marriage halls of discrediting religious verses by playing songs during the wedding ceremony.
When there is a prayer in the mosque, the shopkeepers are unfortunately still busy with their business,” said an official of the department of Vice and Virtue. Surprisingly, the owners of the marriage halls contested the claims and said the Taliban officials can visit the site and added they haven’t played a single song ever since the Taliban overtook the country last year.
“They can come and search the hall,” said Darwish Ahmad, owner of one of the wedding halls told the local media. Meanwhile, the coffee shop owners, who were already facing a serious economic crisis, said their business will be ruined if they were forced to close their establishments. “We invested money here and now the department of vice and virtue says to close it. We have no other job to do,” said Nisar Ahmad, the owner of a coffee shop.
“We were performing prayers before as well, and we are doing it now too. We encourage our children to do it as well,” said Ismail Jan, a resident of Nimroz.
Taliban order to ‘behead female mannequins’ citing Sharia law
Earlier last year, the Taliban ordered the clothing shops in Afghanistan’s Herat province to “behead” female mannequins. According to a report by a local media organisation, the Directorate of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (DPVPV) ordered behad female mannequins, as it violates the contentious “Sharia” law.
As per the Taliban, even looking at the heads of mannequins is considered a violation of sharia law. In another controversial order, it directed shops and shopping malls to immediately remove all the signboards, billboards, and posters depicting women in any kind of advertisement.
