The Return of Big Brother

The Hindu, August 13

DEBATE

The return of Big Brother

AUNOHITA MOJUMDAR

THE spectre of the Taliban police flailing whips on the streets to enforce their laws is a common image associated with their rule in Afghanistan. Under the Taliban, the Department of Vice and Virtue issued edicts which banned girls going to school, women revealing any part of their body including ankles, men shaving or cutting beards, kite flying, music, amongst others. Four and a half years after the Taliban, the Department of Vice and Virtue is back, under the Hamid Karzai government. The move, passed by the cabinet, now awaits a nod from Parliament.

The step has sparked some consternation amongst human rights activists and organisations both within and outside the country, which have expressed fears about the purposes and powers of the body. Human Rights Watch said the department could be used to silence critical voices and further limit women's and girls' access to work, healthcare and education. It called on the international community to make a clear commitment to Afghanistan's long term security and reconstruction and to avoid a return to repressive past practices. Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission also expressed concern over the department, saying there were no clear terms of reference for the body.

No cause for alarm?


The Ministry of Haj and Auqaf, which will oversee the department, however says there is no cause for alarm or worry and that there will be no departure from functions already being carried out by the government. The department would not resemble its namesake under the Taliban in any way, the Ministry has stated, saying the Taliban had abused and misused religion.

In fact, the Department of Vice and Virtue did not emerge with the Taliban. Instituted by the mujahideen who came to power after fighting the Soviets, the department was elevated to the level of a full ministry under the Taliban. Moreover, the department was never abolished by the current government after it came to power, but in fact lay dormant until now.

The recent move, says Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Haj and Auqaf, Moulvi Mohammed Qasim, has been undertaken only to streamline and coordinate and unify the activities of three existing departments: one under the Ministry of Information and Culture which preaches Islamic values through programmes and publications in the electronic and print media, thse second under the Ministry of Haj which is in charge of Islamic preaching and the third under the Supreme Court which is supposed to ensure accountability to the principles of Islam.

According to Moulvi Qasim, the powers and purposes of the reactivated department will be very limited. The department will not have its own enforcement agency or police, but will only spread the message of Islamic principles and morality in society, mainly through public preaching. The government currently employs the preachers in mosques and the new move will strengthen their role and provide uniform guidelines on how and what to preach he said, adding, "all religions — Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism preach the holy word and the principles of religion".

`Rising immorality'


The department, the Minister said in an exclusive interview, was set up by President Karzai on the urging of people from rural areas as well as the Ulema Councils of the various provinces. "We ourselves felt immorality in society was on the increase. More and more sex workers were being arrested and alcohol was being seized by the Interior Ministry police. This is worrying and we are concerned about the people."

A task force under the Ministry of Interior already exists to "combat immorality". Set up in January 2005, the task force has since cracked down on alcohol consumption and prostitution, carrying out raids and affecting arrests. Both prostitution and alcohol are banned under Afghanistan's Constitution. However, a unwritten code "allows" foreigners to consume alcohol and it is served in restaurants frequented by them. In recent months however, alcohol, or at least beer, is also being sold openly in street corners.

In February this year the Upper House of Afghanistan's Parliament expressed grave concern at what it called rampant moral vices in Afghanistan — the widespread use of alcohol, prostitution and other social and moral evils.

Moulvi Qasim fights shy of saying whether Western lifestyles are the reason for the reactivation of the department. While stating that all foreigners are bound by the laws of the land, he however insists that the department's activities will have an impact on Afghans "so that they do not accept anything that is against the culture of Afghanistan."

Key players in the international community have been cautious in their response to the move to reactivate the Department of Vice and Virtue. The UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) emphasised that any new body must have effective safeguards to prevent misuse of powers. Welcoming the Government's assurances, the U.N. body said "we await further information on this issue, particularly more transparency on the question of why this body is needed and how it will be used."

The E.U. came up with a similar response with E.U. special representative Frances Vendrell saying he did not want to pass judgement on the department until he had seen what the department was going to be, while emphasising the need for it to be consistent with the rights enshrined in the Constitution.

While the E.U. and U.N. have been cautious, there are those in the international community who actually feel that the move to set up the department is a good one as it would deflect the pressure from conservative sections of the community. An aid worker who has spent more than a decade working on and in Afghanistan wondered what the fuss was all about. The expatriate lifestyles, he said, had created some consternation and the pendulum was now swinging back. The aid worker, who did not want to be named, said the current government had always had to "walk the tightrope between the turban and the Armani suit" and this move (to reactivate the Department of Vice and Virtue) might be an instrument that would help it do that, acting as a pressure valve for conservative opinions and pressures.

Deputy Minister Qasim denies that the move was meant to address concerns about the current government's un-Islamic character but admitted that it would help improve the government's image. "The government will be strengthened if people see the government working to spread the message of Islam and morality. That will improve the picture of the government in the eyes of the people."

An Afghan youth who is critical of the international community's role in his country however felt the government had probably backed down from what it may have planned earlier following international pressure. "I see nothing new in this move. Maybe they got scared and diluted their earlier plans."