By staff and wire reports
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- When
Afghanistan's ultra-conservative
Taliban banned television in 1998,
the drought-ridden nation's people
might have sought solace in a game
of cards or chess, or even the strum
of a guitar.
No longer.
On Thursday the Taliban placed bans
on the import of 30 products including
playing cards, computer discs, movies,
satellite TV dishes, musical
instruments, cassettes and
chessboards, after declaring them
un-Islamic.
The Taliban's supreme leader Mullar Mohammad Omar ordered the ban,
according to the radical Islamic movement's Voice of Shariat radio, monitored
in the Pakistan capital Islamabad.
Other items listed as banned for being "against
the Sharia", or Islamic law, include fireworks,
statues, fashion catalogues, greeting cards
featuring pictures of people, lipsticks, nail polish
and neckties.
Pig products and anything made from human
hair were banned, too.
The radio quoted the leader's order as telling
border guards and security agencies to seize the
banned items and hand them over to the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue
and Prevention of Vice.
Previous bans
Wednesday's order follows one last month banning the printing of pictures of
animals or verses from the Koran on any products.
The Taliban swept to power in 1996 and controls 95 percent of the war and
famine-ravaged country.
It has barred women from education,
most types of work, and from going out
without wearing the all-enveloping
"burka" veil. Men are ordered to grow
long beards and not wear Western
clothes.
The movement sparked international
protests earlier this year by ordering the
demolition of ancient Buddhist statues
and asking the country's small
non-Muslim population to wear
distinguishing badges.
Continuing civil war
Meanwhile, fresh fighting broke out Thursday in northern Afghanistan amid
accusations from both Taliban rulers and rebel troops.
Taliban officials said opposition soldiers, led by ousted defense chief Ahmed
Shah Massood, launched a blistering offensive in northern Takhar province
before dawn.
Opposition soldiers used newly acquired tanks from Russia in the assault in
Tangi Fahar, a strategic region that links opposition held territories in northern
Afghanistan, they said.
The Taliban have repeatedly accused Iran, Russia and several Central Asian
countries of assisting their opponents, who rule in about 5 percent of the
country, most of it in northern Afghanistan
no its just that the "kathh-mullahs" aint in power in pak. Thank goodness.
I did not know cassesttes were bad, I will now have to dispose off my tapes with recitation of quran by qari Shakir qasmi on it.
And since TV is unislamic, I am starting a movement to pull tilawaat and farman-e-ilahi type programs from TV first. after all why disgrace the holy word by broadcasting via a mode declared as un-islamic..
and there goes my software and all academic research, prior projects etc. hafta get rid of computer discs.
But i think I have found a loophole, they have not said anything about minidiscs. mp3 players and the memory sticks. I will just be one step ahead of them.
[quote]
Originally posted by kumarakn: Is Islamisation inversely proportional to Modernisation?
[/quote]
No its not as islam contributed towards modernization itself. But when people dont understand religion and look at things from an orthodox puritanical way where their culture masquerades as religion, you see this happen.
Guyz,
Thanx for sharing your views,.I really appreciate,..Talibans can do anything in their country.Its there Internal problem.But the reason,I posted this message here was to bring it in open.Whether we like it or not,Talibans knows themselves too that what is in their best interset.
As there are some laws in Pakistan which are not appreciated in India,..sameway,.there are some laws in India,..which we don't like in Pakistan....But we can't dictate other soveriegn nations.Afghanistan is one of them too.
why ban lipstick when you have hijab to cover your face. nobody knows you wear lipstick. i really started to believe
they are trying to trivialise islam.
What talibs have done is pure barbaric eg. destroying Buddha statues etc… There are lot of other things they did I don’t agree with but what about the good things they have done no body seems to care about that.
Do you guppies know one of the young Afghan minister with a long beard spke good english was here in US. He listed all the good Talib did when they came to power. One of them was some Afghans were trading their daughters and Talibs out lawed that. How about growing popy which is also out lawed and verified by UN. And this young gentleman had a big list of their achievements.
Seems like when US don’t like some one that some one becomes a terrorist a pariah a rogur OVER NIGHT.