Hated Taleban Ministry Stages Comeback

Human rights groups and ordinary Afghans alike are alarmed by plans for the revival of the Taleban-era Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.



President Hamed Karzai’s cabinet has approved a proposal by the Afghan Religious Scholars' Council (Ulema) to resurrect the notorious ministry set up under the Taleban which ruthlessly implemented a string of arbitrary laws, particularly against women and girls, that were enforced by public beatings and imprisonment.



Women were targeted for, among other things, wearing socks that were not sufficiently opaque; showing their wrists, hands, or ankles; and not being accompanied by a close male relative. Men were beaten for trimming their beards.



It is unclear what the revamped vice and virtue department’s powers will be and just what it will do, though the government insists it will differ significantly from the old one and promises it won’t interfere in citizens’ personal lives.



What constitutes vice is also unclear with media reports suggesting it will focus on alcohol, drugs, crime and corruption.



Deputy Minister for Haj and Religious Affairs Sulaiman Hamed told IWPR that the department would not have its own special police force and would confine its activities to preaching and encouraging citizens down the “right path”. Only if this more subtle approach doesn’t work would law enforcement authorities be called in.



“It will work in conjunction with the police and other judiciary organs," he said, adding both clerics and lay people would be involved.



"This department will not search for the hidden faults of the people like the Taleban did and it will not interfere in people's personal life. Searching for people's hidden faults is itself against Koran and Islam."



Hamed believes that having such a department is Afghanistan’s duty as an Islamic society.



Human rights activists, however, aren’t convinced that it is either necessary or going to be any different than its Taleban predecessor.



Nasrin Abubaker Gross, a lecturer at Kabul University and a women’s rights activist, worries it will mean a return to the days when Afghan women were beaten by the police for infringing Taleban rules.



"I am confident that this department will once again create horror and fear among the people," she said. "I myself do not feel a need for establishment of such a department. A lot of money will be spent on it. This money should be given to the people who commit immoral acts because of economic problems.”



A member of the Afghan parliament who asked to remain anonymous believes a vice and virtue department would allow the Taleban to regain some of its lost political influence. “The way will be paved for Taleban in every village to carry out their political activities through this department," he said.



"Creating such a department allows those extremist fundamentalists who are against democracy to continue their hostility to democracy through this department."



Maulawi Habibullah Hassam, a religious scholar who heads Kabul's provincial council, has a different point of view.



He sees Afghan society as increasingly vice-ridden and in need of the strong moral leadership that would be offered by the department. Administrative corruption, raunchy movies and the consumption and selling of alcohol are just a few of the issues he believes needs urgently addressing.



Some like Nasrin Abubaker Gross worry what the rest of the world will think about Afghanistan’s controversial ministry. However, complaints from the international community and human rights groups carry little weight with Hassam.



"We see hundreds of cases in the West such as same sex marriages, which are against the Islamic religion, democracy and even against human rights law yet have not said ‘why are they doing this’. So why are they interfering in our religious issues?" he protested.



Hamed also appears unconcerned about world opinion. "If the nation demands a department to prevent vice and promote virtue, the international community should accept it," he said.



However, ordinary Afghans who suffered under the Taleban are siding with the human rights groups in condemning their government’s decision.



Some like Kabul resident Mumtaz, 22, have terrible memories of the department in its previous incarnation. He was working as a tailor's apprentice when a group of Taleban religious police came into the shop and arrested him, because his beard was too short. His head was shaved and he was jailed for seven days.



Noor Alam, 42, from Kabul was beaten and jailed by Taleban religious police for two months, also because his beard was not long enough. He’s shocked that a similar style organisation is being resurrected.



"I hate one thing a lot in my life which is the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice. It is the virtue department whose police beat me until I became mentally ill,” he said.



Wahidullah Amani is an IWPR staff reporter in Kabul.