Residents of Kandahar city have complained about the interference and inappropriate behavior of the Taliban Morality Police. According to them, the Taliban Morality Police monitor people’s daily lives at various hours of the day and night, interfere in their business and personal affairs, and harass them under various pretexts.
Ghamai (pseudonym), a resident of Kandahar city, says the Taliban Morality Police interfere in people’s daily lives every day and have deprived them of the chance to live a normal life.
This Kandahar resident says: “In the morning, when I leave home for my shop, the Taliban Morality Police are standing by the road. When they stop me, they look for an excuse. Sometimes they tell me to turn up the volume of my car’s tape player to see whether I am listening to music. Other times they ask why I have touched my beard [trimmed it]. At the same time, they insult me with words such as hypocrite, sinner, and similar terms. They behave as though we are not Muslims. We are fed up with life.”
Kandahar residents say the monitoring by the Taliban Morality Police is not limited to markets and public places, and that they also interfere while people are worshipping inside mosques. According to them, such behavior has created difficulties in people’s daily lives and has robbed them of any sense of peace, even while praying or earning a lawful living.
Walid (pseudonym), a shopkeeper from District 7 of Kandahar city, says he has become so tired of the behavior of the Taliban Morality Police that he can no longer go to the mosque to pray in peace. According to him, after prayers, the Morality Police force worshippers to listen to their speeches for about 30 minutes.
This Kandahar resident adds: “One day I performed the afternoon prayer in congregation. As usual, I did not stay for the supplication and headed toward the mosque gate. I had not yet taken three steps when they called out to me: Hey, I am talking to you! Where are you going? When I turned around, I saw it was a member of the Morality Police. I told him I had work to do and asked what the matter was. He said: Come, sit down so we can talk with you for a few words. But I went to my shop.”
According to him, the Morality Police had told other worshippers in the mosque that he was a hypocrite and a sinner who did not like hearing religious talks. Walid adds that the Morality Police later found the address of his shop and went there in the morning.
Walid says: “They came to my shop and said very ugly and insulting things to me. They said they would throw me in prison and break my bones. The astonishing thing was that they said they would not release me until we make you a Muslim. In short, they humiliate and insult people.”
Monitoring of Homes and Guesthouses at Night
Other residents of Kandahar city also say that the Taliban Morality Police, particularly on Thursday nights, patrol the city’s alleys, stand around people’s homes and guesthouses, and listen to the conversations and gatherings inside. According to them, the Morality Police stop in front of houses and beside walls to find out whether music is being played inside, a gathering is being held, or any other activity is taking place that conflicts with the Taliban’s directives.
Wahid (pseudonym), a resident of the Haji Arab area of Kandahar city, says the Taliban Morality Police stand in front of people’s homes and guesthouses at night and monitor the activities inside them.
This Kandahar resident says: “One night, around one o’clock in the morning, they pounded violently on the gate of our guesthouse. I opened the gate in great anxiety. I saw that it was the Morality Police. Without asking anything, they walked straight into the guests’ room and frightened everyone who was sitting there. I asked them if everything was all right and what had happened. But they neither greeted us nor spoke respectfully. They said: Why are you committing immorality and indecency? Do you not know that such gatherings are forbidden? Then they searched the entire room to find anything that the Morality Police considered a violation of the rules. We do not feel safe even inside our own homes. This is the security the Taliban claim to provide.”
Attempts to Restrict Women’s Lives Inside Their Homes
Fida Mohammad (pseudonym), a resident of District 5 of Kandahar city, says that during the afternoon prayer, five Taliban Morality Police members went to the mosque near their residence. According to him, as soon as the prayer ended, two of the Morality Police members closed both gates of the mosque and prevented worshippers from leaving.
This Kandahar resident says the Morality Police had asked the worshippers to listen to their remarks about preaching and guidance, but according to him, the content of those remarks was full of insults and humiliation toward the people.
Fida Mohammad adds: “During the afternoon prayer, five Morality Police members came to our mosque. When the prayer was over, two of them immediately closed both gates of the mosque and stood beside them. They told everyone to listen to the preaching and guidance of the Morality Police. But this was not preaching; it was an insult and humiliation of the people of the area. In the house of God, they said such ugly and insulting things that perhaps not even in the marketplace would anyone speak with such harsh words.”
According to Fida Mohammad, the Morality Police told worshippers that the women of their families go to the market and that this leads to indecency and corruption.
He says: “The Morality Police told them: From now on, do not allow your women to leave the house. Wearing tight and form-fitting clothes at home and walking without a headscarf is a great sin and is strictly forbidden. They even said that women should not speak loudly inside the house either, because a woman’s voice is considered awrah (private). Is this preaching, or is it an insult to the people?”
Meanwhile, the continuous monitoring and behavior of the Taliban Morality Police have hurt the daily lives of Kandahar city residents. According to them, the Morality Police monitor people in alleys, markets, commercial centers, and mosques, and in some cases do not allow them to leave mosques.
Residents of the city are complaining about the behavior of the Taliban Morality Police at a time when the newspaper has previously published reports about the mistreatment of lecturers and employees of Kandahar University, schoolteachers, employees of money exchange centers, hospital doctors, young people and media workers, and has also reported the imprisonment of several individuals.
According to statements by Kandahar residents, the interference of the Morality Police is not limited to monitoring public places, but extends to people’s privacy, worship, family gatherings and daily activities. Their complaints are accompanied by serious concerns about privacy, the preservation of human dignity, and the security of ordinary life.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
تجسس و مداخله محتسبان طالبان؛ حریم خصوصی و زندهگی روزمره مردم در معرض تهدید است
