Taliban orders shop owners to remove heads of mannequins

A video clip showing men sawing the plastic heads off life-sized dummies goes viral on social media.

The Taliban has ordered shop owners in western Afghanistan to remove the heads of mannequins, insisting the life-sized figures violate Islamic law, according to a report.

A video clip showing men sawing the plastic heads off female dummies went viral on social media, the AFP news agency reported on Wednesday.

Since returning to power in August, the Taliban has increasingly imposed their interpretation of Islamic law, severely curtailing freedoms, particularly those of women and girls.

“We have ordered the shopkeepers to cut the heads off mannequins as this is against (Islamic) Sharia law,” Aziz Rahman, the head of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in the city of Herat, was quoted as saying by AFP.

This is Herat where the Taliban authorities have asked clothing shops to behead all “female mannequins” calling them “un-Islamic”. Herat was called “the pearl of Khurasan” by Rumi and has been considered the cultural capital of #Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/CUBA6fSE74 — Zia Shahreyar l ضیا شهریار (@ziashahreyar) January 3, 2022

“If they just cover the head or hide the entire mannequin, the angel of Allah will not enter their shop or house and bless them,” Rahman added after some vendors initially responded by covering the heads of mannequins with plastic bags or headscarves.

The Taliban has so far issued no national policy on mannequins or statues. Under the group’s interpretation of Islamic law, depictions of the human figure are forbidden.

During their first government in the 1990s, the Taliban triggered global outrage after blowing up two ancient Buddha statues.

Since seizing power, they have banned girls from secondary schools in several provinces while women have largely been prevented from working in the public sector and excluded from government positions.

Afghan women walk past a clothing shop in Herat, Afghanistan [File: Petros Giannakouris/AP]

Last week, authorities in Kabul said women seeking to travel long distances should not be offered road transport unless accompanied by a close male relative.

The group has increased raids on liquor sellers, rounded up drug addicts and banned music.

The Taliban takeover has devastated aid-dependent Afghanistan’s economy, with billions of dollars of assets frozen by the United States and international aid largely paused.

However, the UN Security Council last week adopted a US-proposed resolution to help humanitarian aid reach desperate Afghans while seeking to keep funds out of the hands of the Taliban government, which has yet to be recognised by any country.