The interim Afghan Taliban government in Afghanistan has banned the playing of music in public spaces since taking over after the evacuation of American and other allied forces from the country in 2021.
On Saturday, its Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said that it had set fire to a heap of musical equipment and instruments, including a guitar, a harmonium, a tabla (drums) and two other string instruments.
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The equipment, which included mostly electronic amplifiers and speakers, confiscated from a wedding hall in the Delaram district of Nimroz province.
Officials of the ministry told the wedding hosts that ceremonies should be held per Islamic principles and the Afghan culture, and that playing of music did not have any religious significance and causes other evils.
The officials said that while they do not want to snatch people's happiness under any circumstances; but Shariah responsibilities require that in every place where evil is done, they stop it.
They also gave sermons emphasizing Islamic and Shariah principles.
The Afghan Taliban have issued a new set of guidelines for weddings, in which music has been prohibited. Music has also been prohibited in public spaces in general and now squads from the ministry patrol the streets of the country, rounding up offenders.
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Since taking over in 2021, the Afghan Taliban have moved to break all promises they made about women, shutting down schools and universities, barring women access to public spaces such as playgrounds, parks and gyms while also stopping women from working, either in private sector or public sector.
Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice had shut down all beauty parlours across the country earlier in the month, one of the few places left in Afghanistan which were for women, run by women and of women.
READ MORE: How Taliban’s Ugly Business Of Banning Beauty Parlours Is Traumatising Women In Afghanistan
According to the Afghan Women Chamber of Commerce, the closure of beauty parlours stands to impact some 60,000 women in the cash-strapped and economically challenged country. Previously, the Afghan Taliban forbade barbers from shaving beards of men.
Earlier, the Afghan Taliban issued a new set of guidelines for marriages outlining rights of women, that if the groom fails to pay dowry (mehr) to the wife, the groom's inheritance can be confiscated. Moreover, women cannot be forced into marriage.