RASC News Agency: Local sources in Paktika province report that the Taliban have prohibited journalists from photographing or filming living beings within the region. On Monday, January 27, sources revealed to the media that the Taliban’s Directorate of Information and Culture in Paktika announced this decision during a meeting with journalists last week. Taliban officials in the Directorate of Information and Culture stated that this directive was issued in adherence to the principles of Amr bil Maroof wa Nahi anil Munkar (Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice). The Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has further declared that this prohibition will gradually be enforced nationwide.
Over the past three months, the Taliban have imposed a blanket ban on photography and videography in at least ten provinces, driving several media outlets to the brink of closure. Known for their rigid and tribal-centric ideology intertwined with ultra-conservative interpretations of religion, the Taliban have rendered daily life increasingly oppressive for Afghanistani citizens. While journalists are barred from capturing images, the Taliban themselves continue to exhibit hypocrisy on the matter.
When foreign dignitaries meet with Taliban leaders, photography is suddenly deemed “permissible.” Yet, for Afghanistani citizens, it is unequivocally declared “forbidden.” This blatant double standard has deepened public mistrust, with citizens asserting that the Taliban’s so-called Sharia serves merely as a tool to justify their actions. The group manipulates religious principles to advance its ethnic and economic agendas, using the guise of Sharia as a façade to enforce policies that consolidate their power while disregarding the fundamental rights and freedoms of the population.
