The Afghanistan National Institute of Music and the Afghanistan Youth Orchestra, both now operating in exile, condemned the Taliban’s burning of hundreds of musical instruments in Parwan and Laghman Provinces, calling it a direct assault on the country’s cultural identity.
In a statement, the institutions said that at least 600 instruments were set alight in Parwan alone. Images circulated in what was described as an official press release showed a pile of instruments burning in an open field.
The organizations described the destruction as “a deliberate attempt to erase the cultural identity and artistic heritage of the Afghan people.” Music, they said, has long been an integral part of Afghanistan’s social life, serving as a medium for expression, cohesion and the transmission of cultural traditions.
The Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has previously said it collected and burned about 500 instruments in Parwan over the past year. According to Taliban officials, the instruments — including harmoniums, tablas, tambours, frame drums and audio equipment — had been gathered from the provincial center and surrounding districts.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have banned music nationwide under their interpretation of Islamic law and dismantled formal arts education. The exiled institutions said thousands of instruments have been destroyed since then, depriving the people of their cultural rights and creating what they described as a climate of repression for artists and musicians.
They urged the international community and cultural organizations not to remain silent and called for urgent measures to protect Afghanistan’s musical heritage and support displaced artists.
The Taliban have maintained that music is forbidden under their interpretation of religious law.
