Taliban: Hindus Must Be Labeled

K A B U L, Afghanistan, May 22, 2001 -- Hindus will be required to wear anidentity label on their clothing in Islamic Afghanistan todistinguish them from Muslims, a Taliban minister said today.

The hardline Taliban rulers, who control 95 percent of this poorCentral Asian state, plan to enforce the edict soon, Mohammed Wali,Taliban's religious police minister, told The Associated Press. Anexact date was not set, he said. The law will also make it mandatory for Hindu women to veilthemselves — just like Muslim women of Afghanistan, Wali said. The edict prompted an angry statement from Hindu-dominatedIndia.

'Backward and Unacceptable'

"We absolutely deplore such orders which patently discriminateagainst minorities," Press Trust of India quoted an unnamed Indianforeign ministry official as saying. "It is further evidence ofthe backward and unacceptable ideological underpinning of theTaliban." The decision could further isolate the orthodox militia, alreadyunder fire from the West for its alleged discriminatory policiestoward ethnic and religious minorities, human rights abuses andpoor treatment of women. But Wali said the decision is in line with Islam, "Religiousminorities living in an Islamic state must be identified," hesaid.

Maybe a Yellow OM?

The Taliban have not yet decided what sort of an identity labelHindus will have to wear. There are at least 5,000 Hindus living in Kabul. Thousands ofother Hindus live in other Afghan cities, but there's no reliablefigure on exactly how many. The new law will only be meant for Hindus because there are noChristians or Jews in Afghanistan and Sikhs can be easilyrecognized by their turbans, Wali said. However, at least one Jewis known to live in the Afghan capital of Kabul and there may alsobe some Christians. It was unclear whether foreigners living in Afghanistan would berequired to wear the identity label. Anar, an Afghan Hindu in Kabul who uses just one name, said hedoes not want to wear a label identifying him as Hindu. "It will make us vulnerable and degrade our position in thesociety," he said.

It's for Their Own Protection... Really

But Munawaar Hasan, general secretary of a major Islamicpolitical party called Jamaat-e-Islami, or Islamic Party, said themove seems aimed to give protection to Hindus. "The Taliban should win praise for this step," he said."Providing protection to religious minorities is a must in anyIslamic country and this step seems in line with this concept." The Taliban follow a harsh version of Islam that bars women frommost jobs and education, and makes it mandatory for men to wearbeards and pray five times a day. All light entertainment,including television and music, are outlawed. The Taliban invited worldwide criticism when in March theydestroyed two ancient statues of Buddha in central Bamiyan, callingit their religious duty. Most of the Islamic world, including pro-Taliban Pakistan,differ with the Taliban's narrow interpretation of Islam and saythat it is tarnishing Islam's image. The Taliban face U.N. sanctions for giving protection to Saudibillionaire Osama bin Laden, wanted by Washington for allegedlyrunning a global terrorist network. The Taliban deny the charge andsay the United States has no evidence against him for terrorism.