Taliban 2.0 Tightens Fascist Control Over Afghans
“Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” – Jim Morrison
Michael Hughes
October 19, 2024
The Taliban movement began implementing yet another round of antediluvian measures for the sole purpose of ensuring its grip on power, this time a ban on airing or publishing images of “living beings.” It is of course important to underscore that most of the Taliban’s draconian restrictions, including this latest edict, are not legitimately derived from Islamic law. Not even close.
Under Taliban 2.0, Afghanistan has plummeted below North Korea in the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index. Moreover, no other Muslim-majority state has any such prohibitions. Of course, this should not come as a surprise to anyone. After all, the now infamous Article 17 banning the publication of living creatures – beings “with a soul” – was part of the vice rules unveiled by the Taliban in August in a 114-page, 35 article document. At the time, the so-called ministry for the “propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice,” published laws regulating a wide range of everyday Afghan life – including music, celebrations, public transportation, and even shaving.
Although Wahhabism is a major influence on the Taliban, such an image ban does not even exist in Saudi Arabia. Saudi citizens have no free speech protections, as a representative from Riyadh’s embassy in the U.S. told this reporter about a decade ago, but they are not as extreme as the Taliban in interpreting sacred texts. The Koran does preach against idolatry, but so does the Bible. One need not be a religious scholar to realize that no lines in these original sources, reasonably read, support this madness. It takes impressive levels of maniacal “creativity” to take scripture out of context to this degree.
The radical movement’s stated aim to protect moral virtue is laughable of course, as the same darkness descends on Afghanistan as it did under Taliban 1.0 in the 1990s. The main difference being that the current regime might eventually become even more radical. One could argue that its upper echelons are filled with even more terroristic extremists, if that is even fathomable. The effects of the regulations are quite severe. The Taliban have already been cracking down on journalists and media since they took power, robbing Afghans access to a plurality and diversity of perspectives, thereby obscuring all of the regime’s activities – like skimming funds, dalliances with al-Qaeda and ilk, and enforcement of gender apartheid.
Not to mention, the hypocrisy is rich as well given the Taliban embrace media and images when it suits their political ambitions. The Taliban exploited social media, held press conferences, and circulated imagery of battlefield victories and captured arms in the run up to and after the seizure of Kabul. So let’s be clear that this is not only about purists upholding a barbaric creed under the guise of religious and spiritual principles. It is more than that. It is a bid for political and military control of the entire populace, and part of an effort to counter any resistance.
In addition to squashing alternative voices, the act itself is soulless given that art and imagery are critical for nurturing the soul, be it in a religious or secular context. It is beyond mere material depravity – the Taliban radicals are crushing the spirit and imagination of the “subject population,” in a similar manner as they’ve attempted to destroy other aspects of Afghan custom, tradition, culture, and heritage.
Moves by the international community to reach out to the Taliban in the hopes of persuading them to moderate have apparently been entirely futile. In exchange for the easing of sanctions or promises thereof, the Taliban have only become increasingly more extreme in terms of human rights abuses and finishing the job of turning Afghanistan into a totalitarian state.
It is hard to say if this marks a point of no return. Media and art can be weapons to challenge established powers in nuanced and subtle ways. Arizona State University (ASU) professor John Carlson noted the important role of art under oppressive regimes like the Taliban.
“In times of oppression, artists have wielded their creativity as a powerful form of resistance. Art becomes a sacred act, challenging injustice, igniting hope and illuminating the resilience of the human spirit,” Carlson said in an article posted on ASU News on October 14.
Carlson’s comments came ahead of an October 24 showing of the creative works by Afghan artist Dr. Mohammad Yousof Asefi, who preserved artwork by concealing “living beings” in the pieces under Taliban 1.0 rule. After the collapse of the regime, Asefi revealed that he had covered the images with temporary watercolor that he later washed off. It is hopeful that perhaps another Afghan artist might be as lucky under the current occupiers of Kabul. To paraphrase the title of the upcoming ASU event, the question remains if the “brush is mightier.”