En Afghanistan, des taxis bravent l'interdiction d'écouter de la musique
As soon as he spots a policeman, Roeen's car radio shuts off in a flash. Like him, taxi drivers in Afghanistan defy the Taliban government's ban on listening to music despite the fear of punishment.
There was a time when Kabul lived to the rhythm of popular melodies escaping from restaurants, cafes, shops and, in the summer, from the open windows of the countless vehicles circulating in the Afghan capital.
But since the rise of the Taliban government in 2021, only religious or patriotic songs authorized by leaders who adhere to Sharia, an ultra-rigorous version of Islamic law, sometimes resonate in the public space.
The white-clad agents of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Repression of Vice (PVPV) hunt down the slightest dissonant note.
However, taxi drivers, like Roeen, who used his surname for security reasons, are starting to listen to Afghan folk or pop music again.
"As soon as we pass a checkpoint," which are numerous in Kabul, "we lower the volume or turn the music off completely," he explains to AFP in his sky blue and white taxi.
"As music is prohibited and causes inconvenience to passengers, drivers must refrain from listening to it or making it heard," warns the morality police.
When contacted by AFP regarding the potential penalties, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue did not respond. Generally, offenders face prison sentences.
Roeen says he has "ten times more desire to listen to music" since the ban: "If I don't have time in the early morning, I have to turn on the car radio by eight o'clock at the latest."
In a country where many forms of entertainment are banned -- cinemas have either been destroyed or closed except to sometimes show "documentaries" glorifying the armed forces -- listening to music "is a form of protest," explains this 28-year-old man.
- Stress and no headphones -
Another driver, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, confided that he only listens to music when he is alone and the noise of other vehicles' engines makes him less noticeable.
"Before, we listened to music whenever we wanted, without stress or worry. Now (...), I listen, but I'm stressed," says the thirty-year-old.
On two occasions, police officers arrested him and caught him with a USB key and a memory card which he connects to his car radio to listen to the songs he likes.
"I didn't lie, I said they contained music, they destroyed them," he says.
"For me, Afghan culture must not disappear, or music is part of our culture," explains the driver.
While provincial branches of the morality police sometimes announce that they have seized and burned instruments or devices used to listen to music, the ministry spokesman, Saiful Islam Khyber, stated that he did not have figures at the national level.
And what about the customers? Faced with the almost total absence of public transport, sharing a taxi is a very popular and cheap way to get around Kabul.
It is therefore not uncommon to see two passengers next to the driver, three or more in the back, and sometimes one or two others in the trunk.
Shamsullah Ahmad, a 29-year-old student, likes to "listen to music every day." "When I have to go somewhere, I try to see if I can find a taxi with a car radio," he explains. "It's better, even at low volume, because if I'm listening with headphones, it's noticeable."
Morality police officers regularly snatch earphones from the ears of Afghans, in the street or in gyms, to check if they are listening to music.
Roeen misses the time when "you could listen to songs, dance and party" without being prevented from doing so by the authorities.
Now, the city is plunged "into darkness, with no light at the end of the tunnel," he says over the din of horns and engines.
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