Taliban make insane demands - shopkeepers should now behead mannequins

Created: 01/04/2022, 4:40 PM

Mannequins stand in the display of a fashion shop in the western Afghan provincial capital, Herat.

© Sayed Aqa Saeedi / dpa

Since taking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban have been issuing increasingly stringent regulations.

Currently in focus: mannequins

Herat - Afghanistan under the Taliban: The radical Islamists have been enacting ever stricter regulations for public life since they came to power in August. They are now making a bizarre request to fashion stores in the west of the country. The operators should behead their mannequins. These are idols and therefore un-Islamic, said Asisul Rahman, a provincial representative of the newly created Ministry for the Preservation of Virtue, the dpa on Tuesday. "They must be disposed of," Rahman explained. Initially, however, it should suffice that the mannequins are beheaded.

The head of the competent chamber of commerce in Herat province, Abdul Wadud Faissada, complained about the new instruction.

The shopkeepers would have spent a lot of money on the mannequins.

The economy in Afghanistan * is in free fall, and millions of people in the country are starving.

The models are also not idols, but are set up to display clothing.

"You can find it in shops in all Islamic countries," says Faissada.

Meanwhile, videos were circulating on social media showing the heads of mannequins being sawed off.

Afghanistan: Taliban have mannequins beheaded - "must be eliminated"

The Taliban * had already issued increasingly strict regulations in the past few weeks. Most recently, drivers were instructed not to play music in the vehicle. In addition, women should not be allowed to travel more than 45 miles (about 72 kilometers) without a male companion. Most secondary schools for girls are still closed. In many cases women can no longer go back to their jobs. Many have fled the country since the Islamists came to power in August 2021.

The Taliban are also cracking down on the illegal sale of alcohol.

Only recently had employees of the Afghan secret service disposed of around 3,000 liters of alcohol in a sewer in Kabul.

The barrels with the smuggled alcohol were confiscated in the course of a raid in the capital, the secret service said on Twitter.

Three men were arrested in connection with this.

"Muslims really need to stay away from the manufacture and supply of alcohol," said a religious scholar in a video released by the agency.

The sale and consumption of alcohol were also banned under the previous Taliban government.

However, the Islamists are taking much stricter action against it.