Vice and virtue in Afghanistan

Vice and virtue in Afghanistan
Asia Times

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.