Two Theater Artists Detained in Herat After Criticizing Image Broadcast Restrictions
Local sources in Herat province report that the Taliban administration has arrested two prominent theater artists, Ghulam Farooq Sarkhosh and Feroz Ahmad Malaika. According to these sources, the two were summoned by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice on Thursday, January 1, and were subsequently detained.
Local sources say the arrest followed these artists’ criticism of the enforcement of a ban on broadcasting live images—a directive that had been announced the day before during a meeting held by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice with media and journalists present. It is reported that these criticisms were made during that very session.
The head of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue in Herat stated at the meeting that the ban on broadcasting live images is an order from Hibatullah Akhundzada, emphasizing that disobedience to this directive would not be tolerated. These remarks have sparked concerns and reactions among cultural and media figures.
Ghulam Farooq Sarkhosh is a veteran figure in Herat’s theater scene with over three decades of experience and was recently elected as the head of the Herat Theater Artists’ Union. Feroz Ahmad Malaika is also known as a prominent theater artist in Herat.
As of the publication of this report, local Taliban officials in Herat have not commented on the arrest of these two artists. Since regaining control over Afghanistan, the Taliban administration has imposed extensive restrictions on artistic activities, with reports of arrests and pressure on artists recurring frequently—a process critics deem a violation of cultural freedoms and freedom of expression.
