RASC News Agency: Local sources across multiple provinces of Afghanistan report a sharp escalation in Taliban-imposed restrictions targeting the personal lives of citizens. Residents say that agents of the Taliban’s so-called “Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” have intensified harassment campaigns, primarily against young people, students, and athletes, punishing them for what the regime deems “un-Islamic appearance” specifically, for shaving their beards or not wearing traditional head coverings. According to these sources, the Taliban have extended their intrusive restrictions well beyond state and private institutions into the public sphere. Their agents, often accompanied by armed fighters, patrol the streets daily, inspecting citizens at workplaces, markets, and public squares. Witnesses describe these encounters as aggressive and frequently violent, reinforcing an atmosphere of fear and humiliation.
In some districts, barbers have been fined, beaten, or detained merely for trimming customers’ beards. Shops are being sealed for days as collective punishment, leaving families without income. “This is not about religion, it’s about control,” one Kabul resident told media, emphasizing how the Taliban exploit religion as a pretext to suffocate basic freedoms. In Paktia province, university students have been forced to sign written pledges compelling them to “conform their appearance to Sharia law, grow beards, and wear caps.” These coerced commitments also oblige students to perform congregational prayers under threat of “legal consequences” if they fail to comply. Students report that even graduation ceremonies have been stripped of academic traditions: the university administration under Taliban orders has banned graduation caps and gowns, insisting instead on white or “Kandahari” turbans.
“This is a complete mockery of education,” a Paktia student said. “Our lectures are constantly interrupted by endless Taliban sessions. Attendance is mandatory, and if we miss them, we are threatened with disciplinary action. We are treated not as students, but as subjects of indoctrination.” Local sources further confirm that similar coercive pledges are being extracted from athletes and ordinary citizens. Sportsmen are warned that they must wear beards and caps if they wish to continue participating in any form of public activity. In just one week, at least four men in Paktia alone were arrested for shaving their beards.
Reports from other provinces mirror these practices, suggesting a nationwide strategy of forced conformity. Human rights organizations and civil society activists strongly condemn the campaign, warning that such draconian measures blatantly violate individual freedoms and further suffocate Afghanistan’s already shrinking civic space. Analysts argue that these restrictions are less about religious devotion and more about consolidating the Taliban’s totalitarian control over every facet of life. By policing men’s appearance as aggressively as they have policed women’s clothing and mobility, the Taliban are attempting to erase all forms of personal autonomy, replacing a diverse society with a rigid, state-enforced uniformity of behavior and identity.
“These acts are not merely religious policies they are tools of authoritarian domination,” said a Kabul-based rights activist. “By dictating how people must look, pray, and even graduate, the Taliban remind every Afghanistani that nothing neither education, livelihood, nor even personal grooming remains outside their suffocating grip.” The growing backlash among citizens reflects a broader recognition that the Taliban’s moral policing is nothing more than a systematic assault on human dignity. What began as restrictions inside universities and government offices is rapidly evolving into a full-scale social engineering project one that seeks to strip Afghanistani men and women alike of their individuality, and replace society with a submissive, silenced population under the rule of force and fear.
