The Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has announced that 550 inspectors (muhtasibs) from all 34 provinces of Afghanistan have been summoned to Kabul to participate in a three-day educational and reform-oriented seminar. The program comes amid recent widespread criticism of the conduct of these inspectors in Herat.
On Tuesday, 27 Jowza, the ministry issued a statement saying that during the seminar, principles of preaching, guidance, and reform activities will be taught to the inspectors and preachers.
The Taliban ministry also stated that the newly issued law for preachers, recently approved by the group’s leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, will be explained and clarified for the participants.
The seminar is taking place in a context where, last week, the conduct of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue officials toward several women in the Jebrael township of Herat sparked public protests. In response to these protests, Taliban forces opened fire and arrested demonstrators, resulting in the deaths of two people.
The Herat protests received widespread attention both inside and outside Afghanistan, with rallies and demonstrations held in more than 15 cities worldwide in solidarity with the protesters.
Noor Ahmad Islamjar, the Taliban-appointed governor of Herat, stated that compliance with the group’s dress code had significantly declined in recent months.
Although the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue has denied detaining women over their dress, the governor of Herat described the detained women as “mentally and religiously ill” and said that an order had been issued to remove them from the city streets.
Islamjar also claimed that non-compliance with the Taliban’s dress code among some women in Herat was influenced by “non-Afghan culture” and experiences during migration to neighboring countries. In an interview with Al-Emara News Agency, a Taliban-affiliated media outlet, he described these measures as being in line with the “commands of God and the Prophet.”
The Taliban have previously carried out mass detentions of women in various areas of Kabul, including Shahr-e-Naw, Dasht-e-Barchi, Qala-e-Fatullah, Khair Khana, and Taimani, for allegedly not adhering to the group’s dress code.
The summoning of hundreds of inspectors to Kabul comes at a time when the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice faces extensive domestic and international criticism over its enforcement practices and treatment of women.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
