RASC News Agency: Ahmad Sarmast, the Director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), recently announced that the Zohra Orchestra and the Afghanistani Youth Orchestra will perform concerts in various cities across the United States. These concerts are scheduled for Tuesday, August 6, in New York, and Wednesday, August 7, in Washington, D.C. The performances will be held at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
The Zohra Orchestra and the Afghanistani Youth Orchestra are two prominent musical groups under the aegis of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. A significant number of ANIM students migrated to Portugal following the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan. They continue their artistic endeavors from there and have performed concerts in various cities worldwide.
After the Taliban’s takeover, images emerged showing Taliban forces destroying musical instruments belonging to the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. The Taliban deem listening to music “haram” (forbidden). The group’s Department for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has confiscated and burned musical instruments in several provinces.
This stance contrasts with the policies of other Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, where music is broadcast and performed without persecution of musicians.
