The guardians of acceptable opinion will tut-tut at the Taliban’s “hardline” stance, but they’re busy implementing speech restrictions in the West, so they don’t really have a leg to stand on to object to this. Before too long, it will likely be illegal in the U.S. to engage in “insulting verse of the Qur’an,” or to be perceived as doing so for telling unwelcome truths about the Muslim holy book. Even now, doing this results in one’s vilification, ostracism, and silencing.
“Afghanistan’s Taliban crack down on vloggers,” ANI, June 23, 2022 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
Well known for his YouTube channel and modeling shows – appeared in a very different kind of broadcast. Taliban officials arrested Haqiqi and his three colleagues and released a video showing the men, with bruised faces and clearly under duress, apologizing for encouraging “prostitution” and “insulting verses of the Quran.”
On May 28, the four had posted a YouTube video in which they recited Quranic verses in Arabic in a comical tone. Within a week, the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) had detained them.
“We have been promoting Western culture and values, and for this I apologize,” Haqiqi said in his evidently scripted “confession.”
As of mid-June, the men remained in custody. According to HRW, no charges have been filed against them, and no lawyers or family members have been able to see them.
“These arrests are among the latest in the Taliban’s crackdown on free expression,” said Fereshta Abbasi, Researcher, HRW Asia Division….
A media worker in Herat recently told Abbasi, “Freedom of speech has died in Afghanistan.” For journalists, social media activists, and others publicly resisting the Taliban’s onerous restrictions, his words seem all too true. (ANI)
