Videos of the Taliban destroying musical instruments and allegedly 'sentencing a TV to death' in Afghanistan are doing rounds on the internet. A Pakistani journalist, Hamza Azhar Salam first shared the video on Twitter that showed Taliban members smashing a boulder on a harmonium along with other instruments.
Another video, shared by Natiq Malikzada from Afghanistan showed the Taliban terrorists forcing a man to take an oath that he would never watch TV again. Afterward, the Taliban radical sentenced the TV to death and carried out its execution by smashing it. Everyone cheered when the TV was destroyed.
As the videos went viral on social media, netizens condemned the Taliban's actions. Twitterati accused the Taliban of having 'double standards' as they make plenty of use of mobile phones, internet, TV, and social media to spread their 'propaganda,' but they frown upon the general public using the same devices for entertainment.
Taliban and entertainment
Ever since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, one of their primary goals has been getting rid of modes of entertainment. In September, musical instruments including the piano, tabla, and many more were reported to be destroyed by the Taliban in large numbers in Kabul's National Music Institute. They also reportedly set fire to several theme parks in the country. Multiple students of music fled the country in a bid to save their lives and took refuge in Doha and Portugal after the Taliban's takeover.
According to the Associated Press, the Taliban shot dead a singer of Andarab in August for no reason. His family told AP that Fawad Andarabi was killed days after his home was searched by the Taliban. Taliban banned and destroyed musical instruments when they ruled Afghanistan 25 years ago as well.
'This is all double standards'
Netizens questioned if TV is 'haram' then why is the Taliban running news channels in Afghanistan. "Al Jazeera is also haram then. Shut it down," one person tweeted. Al Jazeera is an Arabic-language news channel based in Doha, Qatar.
"Taliban governance 101: Executing television set, filming on mobile," another user wrote.
