RASC News Agency: Local sources from Panjshir report that the Taliban are sealing shops that remain open during prayer times in the province. According to these sources, this restriction is mainly enforced in the Onaba district of Panjshir. A resident of Onaba stated that the Taliban’s religious police, known as the “Amr bil Ma’rouf,” have been closing shops during the Dhuhr (mid-day) and Asr (afternoon) prayers, and have occasionally detained some shopkeepers. The source added, “The Taliban’s religious police seal the shops of shopkeepers who remain open during the Dhuhr and Asr prayers and fail to attend them.”
The source further mentioned that the Taliban also force children running shops to close their businesses during prayer times. Another source reported that on Monday, January 28, the Taliban sealed a barber shop in the Onaba market for trimming a customer’s beard. This is not the first time such actions have been taken. The Taliban have previously sealed barber shops for shaving beards and closed other businesses for remaining open during prayer times. The Taliban’s law, known as “Amr bil Ma’rouf wa Nahy anil Munkar” (Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice), mandates growing beards to a hand’s length and performing the five daily prayers in congregation. Taliban officials, including their leader, have repeatedly emphasized the full implementation of this law.
Critics argue that this law severely restricts individual rights and freedoms, exposing people to interrogation, threats, imprisonment, and humiliation at the hands of the Taliban.
