Health workers in Zabul say that interference by the Taliban’s Morality Police has created serious difficulties for their work. They complain about being required to follow orders such as wearing turbans and growing beards, even during medical procedures, as well as undergoing appearance inspections and mandatory religious training sessions. According to these workers, the Taliban have appointed mullah advisers in 132 health centers across the province, who also interfere in their work, a situation that, in their view, has made it difficult for health workers to focus on treating patients and has disrupted the delivery of health services.
Health workers in the province say hospitals and health centers are places where professional standards and medical needs should take priority in the treatment and rescue of patients. However, they say interference by the Taliban’s Morality Police has, in some cases, affected the work of health workers, causing them to focus on restrictions and other orders instead of their core responsibilities.
A doctor at the Zabul provincial hospital, whose name has not been disclosed in this report due to security concerns, says health workers in the province have grown weary of the ongoing restrictions and interference by the Taliban’s Morality Police. He says this interference has not only affected their work environment but has also created problems in the delivery of health services.
This doctor says: “These people interfere in every department. They tell us to fear God, to wear a turban along with our medical attire, to grow a beard, and to observe every custom that has been prescribed. We tell them, Moulvi Sahib, wearing a turban during an operation is difficult, but they tell us we are enemies of God.”
At the same time, several other doctors at this hospital have grown extremely tired of the ongoing interference in their work environment, saying the Taliban’s repeated meddling has disrupted the delivery of health services.
Ahmadullah (pseudonym), another doctor at the Zabul provincial hospital, says that every day from 8 to 9 in the morning, religious training sessions are held for all hospital staff by a person appointed by the Morality Police.
He says the Taliban-appointed individual does not even allow staff to examine emergency patients and forces everyone to attend the religious training sessions taught by them.
This doctor says there have been many cases in which a patient was in a very critical condition, but the person appointed by the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice did not allow health workers to attend to the patient during that hour.
Ahmadullah adds: “Religious training is given to everyone. Our beards and turbans are inspected. Anyone who does not meet the wishes of the Taliban’s Morality Police is expelled from the training classes, and they are threatened that a report will be sent to the Public Health Directorate to record them as absent. If someone does not change quickly, they are threatened with dismissal from their job.”
One health worker at a hospital in the Tokhi area of Zabul, who does not want to be named in this report, says the Taliban’s Morality Police demand that they wear turbans, grow beards, arrange their appearance according to tradition, attend congregational prayers, and seriously participate in one hour of daily religious training. He says that across Zabul, the Morality Police have detained and imprisoned staff at nearly every hospital for failing to comply with these requirements.
This health worker says: “We have one hour of religious training every day. In some centers, this training is held in the morning, and in others in the afternoon. During the hour when the religious training is held, none of the health workers is allowed to be absent. Even if there is any kind of illness, all staff must be present here for the training.”
At the same time, a source at the Zabul Public Health Directorate says the Taliban have appointed a moulvi as an adviser for each hospital among the province’s 132 health centers. These advisers are tasked with overseeing the Public Health Directorate’s clinics, and health workers are also required to seek their advice on various matters.
The source says health workers at all centers have grown extremely tired of the presence of these advisers, and that over the past two years, nearly 20 health workers have gradually resigned from their positions.
The source adds: “The Taliban have appointed advisers at all government health centers. All these advisers are mullahs. They have been given very broad powers. They can interfere in doctors’ activities and can even remove doctors from their positions.”
These concerns have emerged as the Taliban have installed individuals under the title of Call to Islam, Guidance, and Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in every government and private institution across the country to monitor staff. The activities of these individuals in the public service sector range from monitoring employees’ dress and conduct to how they interact with one another.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
لنگی اجباری و مشاوران ملا؛ نگرانی کارکنان صحی زابل از مداخله طالبان
