Vice and virtue in
Afghanistan By Aunohita
Mojumdar
KABUL - The Afghan government's
move to reactivate the Department of Vice and
Virtue has set alarm bells ringing among sections
of the international community. Under the Taliban,
a full-fledged ministry was responsible for
formulating some of its most contentious laws.
The Taliban's tal-Amr bi al-ma'ruf wa
al-Nahi 'an al-Munkir or Ministry for the
Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice was
responsible for implementing a wide range of codes
governing public behavior, including bans on
activities ranging from homosexuality and
apparently innocent pastimes such as kite-flying
and music to the absurd, including on women
showing their ankles, as well as diktats on the
length of men's beards.
Reacting to the
move by President Hamid Karzai government, Human
Rights Watch said it raised "serious concerns
about the
potential abuse of the rights
of women and vulnerable groups". The Afghan
Independent Human Rights Commission said it was
"concerned about the move, since this would evoke
fears of the legacy of human-rights abuses at the
hand of the Taliban".
However, though the
step has been projected as "setting up" of the
department, the reality is that the department was
never closed down by the Karzai government after
it came to power, but lay dormant. Another
little-reported fact is that the department was
first set up under the mujahideen, though the
Taliban upgraded it into a full-fledged ministry.
In the wake of September 11, 2001, and US
military operations in Afghanistan, all terror and
abuse in the country is equated solely with the
Taliban. Though the Taliban period did reflect the
worst excesses of religious conservatism, the
international community has by and large chosen to
ignore the rabid conservatism within sections of
the jihadi leaders, as it has their human-rights
excesses and abuses. Many of these leaders are now
in government as well as being allies of the
forces prosecuting the "war on terror".
There was little reaction from any of the
international community when the government's
equivalent of the moral police was first set up.
In January 2005, the government instituted a task
force under the Interior Ministry that was charged
with cracking down on immorality in public. The
department has raided brothels and some foreign
guesthouses, seized liquor and arrested suspected
prostitutes. (Under Afghan law, alcohol and
prostitution are both banned, though an unwritten
code allows foreigners to consume alcohol.)
The lack of a major public outcry over the
continuing abuse of women within the judicial and
criminal system - there are large numbers of women
in jail, arrested for crimes including attempts to
escape from abusive domestic situations - suggests
that the consternation over the Vice and Virtue
Department has more to do with the paradigm of the
"war against terror" and its demonization of the
Taliban.
Moulvi Mohammed Qasim, deputy
minister of Haj and Religious Affairs (the
ministry charged with the oversight of the Vice
and Virtue Department), insists there is nothing
dangerous in the move to reactivate the
department, since its only purpose will be to
preach to the public about morality, a task it
already does. (Preachers employed in many of the
mosques throughout the country are employees of
the ministry.) The move was a response to the
"public demand" arising out of concerns about
"growing immorality in society", he said.
A young Kabul professional, Mustafa, has
traditional values and similar concerns about
growing immorality in society through alcohol and
prostitution. However, in a democracy the task of
dealing with this ought to be left to the police,
who have the necessary authority, he feels. Though
the police system also needs revamping to deal
with corruption, Mustafa fears the reactivation of
the old Vice Department will bring back bad
memories.
Parveen is from a far more
radical background. A member of the underground
Revolutionary Association of the Women of
Afghanistan, Parveen said secularism is an
important component of democracy and that the
government should not be involved in religion.
This is despite the fact that she too has concerns
about a certain Westernized culture she said has
been introduced into Afghan society to distract
the youth from taking an active part in politics
and questioning the way the country is being
governed.
While reactions to the
department have been mixed, there are also a fair
number of international observers who think the
move is a good one. A longtime aid worker
suggested that the move would be good for the
government, which is walking a tightrope between
liberal and conservative forces. He suggested the
decision to reactivate the department was a
reaction to the moves to modernize too quickly.
The European Union and the United Nations
have reacted with circumspection, saying they were
waiting to see what the department is all about,
even while both have referred to the need to
uphold human-rights commitments. The UN, even
while welcoming the government's assurances on the
department, called for more information,
transparency about the purpose and suggested
safeguards.
The absence of clear rules
governing this department is indeed a cause for
worry. Though the current proposed role of the
department does not appear to endanger civil
liberties, much will depend on the implementation
and the checks and balances. The stick of
un-Islamic behavior could be used against sections
and persons critical of the government. Media,
says one political observer, could be the first
casualty.
However, Qasim insists that the
move is nothing more than a revamping of existing
structures. It will bring together three existing
departments under one roof to ensure coordination
and better functioning, he said. The three are the
Department for Propagating Islamic Values through
Media (currently under the Information Ministry),
the Department of Accountability to Islamic
Principles (under the Supreme Court), and the
Department on Islamic Preaching (under the
Ministry of Haj). Preaching morality is enjoined
by Islam, and most of the major religions preach
morality, Qasim said.
He denied that the
move seeks to strengthen the Karzai government,
but admitted that it will be good for its image
"if people see that the government is taking steps
to preach Islamic principles", since their belief
in the government being Islamic will be
strengthened.
The decision by the
government reflects a trend whereby Karzai, wholly
reliant on international support initially, has
for some time begun taking greater backing from
conservative sections. In a weakened polity
(political parties have been deliberately kept
weak through successive measures, endorsed by the
international community, that serve to maintain a
strong presidency), the only cohesive political
groups are either commanders of armed groups or
leaders with religious backing. These groups alone
are capable of delivering the support of larger
groups, something that Karzai has taken advantage
of repeatedly recently.
The result has
been a gradual ascendancy of conservative
sections. Marginalized in the immediate aftermath
of the ouster of the Taliban, the conservative
sections are now gradually acquiring
respectability and getting back their space within
the mainstream. A series of small but significant
steps are being taken now in response to the
concerns of this community. These include
tightened controls on the media, a larger role in
governance for conservative sections, and measures
such as reactivation of the Department of Vice and
Virtue.
The reactivation of the
department, if approved by parliament, may yet
turn out to be a toothless body. But its symbolic
value will definitely help the government.
Aunohita Mojumdar is an Indian
journalist who is currently based in Kabul. She
has reported on the South Asian region for 16
years and has covered the Kashmir conflict and
post-conflict situation in Punjab extensively.
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