Taxi drivers in Kabul play music despite Taliban ban — Dawn

Taxi drivers in the Afghan capital, Kabul, have begun playing Afghan and regional folk and pop music in their cars despite a ban imposed by the Taliban authorities. When passing through checkpoints, they turn down or switch off the music, fearing the morality police.

As Dawn reports, restrictions on music in public places are overseen by the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Its rules state that drivers must refrain from listening to and playing music, as it is considered prohibited and may disturb passengers. The ministry did not respond to a request about punishments for listening to music, although people may face imprisonment for violating its other rules.

Music during journeys

A taxi driver named Rohin said that he is especially cautious near checkpoints. According to him, after the ban was introduced, he became much more interested in music and tries to play it in the morning as soon as possible. For the 28-year-old driver, constantly listening to music has become a form of protest in a country where various forms of entertainment, including cinema, are also banned.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Another 32-year-old driver, who asked not to be named, listens to music only when he is alone in the car and it is drowned out by the noise of other vehicles. He said he was stopped twice at checkpoints because of a USB drive and a memory card. According to him, after he confirmed that the storage devices contained music, they were broken.

Passengers look for taxis with players

In Kabul, shared taxis are an affordable way to travel because the city lacks a proper public transport system. Master's student Shamsullah Ahmad said that before a trip, he tries to find out whether a taxi has a music player. In his view, listening to music in a car at low volume is safer than using headphones.

AFP reported cases in which morality police pulled headphones from Afghans' ears to check whether they were listening to music. Provincial branches of the ministry also occasionally report burning musical instruments. Ministry spokesperson Saif ul Islam Khaiber said there were no data on the number of instruments confiscated.