RASC News Agency: The Supreme National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan has declared that as Ashura approaches, the Taliban have imposed unprecedented restrictions on its mourners. On Saturday, July 13, the Supreme National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan issued a statement saying that organizers of Ashura ceremonies are under intense pressure from the Taliban. The statement also mentioned that the Taliban have harassed the mourners.
Moreover, the statement added that according to the guidelines of the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Ashura ceremonies have been limited to just three days, and even the participation of Sunni Muslims has been prohibited. The statement reads: “Additionally, any speeches by preachers and speakers during Ashura ceremonies that contradict the rigid views of this group, and interviews by Shia scholars and clerics about Ashura and its observance with the media, have been banned. There are other bizarre restrictions in this agreement that have no human or Islamic basis.”
The Supreme National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan condemned the Taliban’s actions as inhumane and stated that these restrictions lack any Islamic foundation. The imposition of restrictions on Ashura ceremonies by the Taliban is not new. Over the past three years of Taliban rule, this has always been the case.
Sources reported yesterday that over the past two days, the Taliban have arrested five residents of the Jebrael area in Herat for reacting to the tearing down and removal of Ashura mourners’ flags in the province. Additionally, one person was killed in Herat on this occasion.
The Taliban have disrupted Ashura ceremonies in Kabul, Herat, Ghazni, and several other provinces.
