Taliban Burns Musical Instruments in Herat, Escalating War on Afghan Culture
The Taliban morality police have ignited a pyre of musical instruments on the outskirts of Herat in July 2023, standing guard as flames consumed tablas, harmoniums, keyboards, and amplifiers. This act represents the latest escalation in the Taliban's systematic campaign to destroy Afghanistan's cultural artifacts, reported on Afghan National Television. Since their return to power in 2021, the Taliban have outlawed music, criminalizing performance and listening, citing it as a source of moral corruption that must be eradicated to create a sharia-compliant, music-free nation.
The Silencing of Afghan Musical Heritage
Musicians in Afghanistan now live under constant fear of discrimination, humiliation, torture, imprisonment, sexual violence for women, and even death. The burning of these instruments targets the very bedrocks of Afghanistan's unique classical music traditions, including the lute-like Afghan rubab, whose repertoire is a treasured part of world music. This tradition, passed down through generations, is now imperiled as never before, sustained only in exile by brave musicians like the women of the Zohra orchestra, part of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, now based in Portugal.
The Afghanistan National Institute of Music advocates for the musical rights of its 300 members and the country's culture as a whole, blending western orchestral and traditional instruments in ensembles that defy the Taliban's oppressive policies. In the context of broader Taliban atrocities, such as laws effectively legalizing domestic abuse against women, the assault on culture might seem secondary, yet it is equivalently devastating, erasing the sounds of Afghan history and silencing artistic expression.
Global Response and Musical Resistance
Despite the Taliban's efforts, global audiences can help keep Afghan music alive by listening to works like Dawn by Meena Karimi, composed for International Women's Day 2021 and dedicated to Afghan women's struggles for equality, or performances by rubab virtuosos such as Homayoun Sakhi and Ustad Rahim Khushnawaz. This represents a radical act of solidarity, renewing a cultural practice that is illegal within Afghanistan itself. The situation underscores what many describe as the most urgent musical emergency on the planet, where the very soul of a nation's heritage is under threat.
Broader Cultural Reflections
In a related cultural note, the recent passing of sonic pioneer Eliane Radigue at age 94 reminds us of the power of deep listening. Radigue's work, particularly her Trilogie de la Mort, explores infinite possibilities in sound, using synthesisers to create music where sound contains the music itself. Her later acoustic pieces in the Occam Ocean series teach us how to listen to teeming energy within superficial slowness, offering a contrast to the Taliban's enforced silence.
Meanwhile, in the film world, Ludwig Göransson's Bafta-winning score for Sinners highlights music's role in storytelling, with tracks like I Lied to You weaving African griots, blues, jazz, and hip-hop into a celebration of Black musical roots. The film satirizes how commercialism and appropriation can vampirically drain the soul from genres like the blues, echoing themes of cultural preservation amidst oppression.
As the Taliban continues its war on music, the international community faces a critical moment to support Afghan artists and preserve a rich cultural legacy that risks being lost forever. Listening to their music becomes not just an act of enjoyment, but a defiant stand against cultural erasure.
