The way things are run in Afghanistan has gone from a word of caution to something for show. A new edict means any official with a phone in hand can have it put out of commission in front of everyone, with the threat of sharia law to back it up. They say it’s to stop information from getting out and to make for a more efficient workplace, but the move is also a reaction to what happened in Herat, where a video made all the difference.
How the ban is being enforced
It comes straight from the military courts and is meant for the whole of the Taliban, from the top brass down to the rank and file. The only way around it is with a piece of paper bearing the signature of Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Put simply, as one version of the order puts it: 'If anyone uses one, their mobile phone will be smashed, and legal and sharia punishment will be imposed on the violator.’
You can see it in a video that’s been making the rounds: an official reads the ban from his phone while someone else goes about breaking the devices. We tried to put a question to a spokesperson, but to no avail.
Here is how it looks on the ground:
– You’re found with a phone, it’s gone
– There are sharia penalties on the table
– An exemption won’t come without the supreme leader’s ok
– It’s not the same in every province
Why the crackdown now
There is a fear that things are being let out before they should be. One person who follows the situation in Afghanistan says some of their people have been taking pictures of papers or taping meetings, so by the time the supreme leader has had his say, the story is already out there.
Then there is the matter of the office. The same analyst will tell you that all the time spent on a screen is a drag on work; in his view, a smartphone has no place in an official’s hands.
Inside Herat offices
If you talk to a couple of civil servants in Herat, they’ll tell you this has been the unspoken rule for a while. One said he was told to leave his phone at home some two months back. He and a few others didn’t, and the next thing you know, their phones were taken and put through a wall. He put a price on it: 8,000 afghanis (95) for the loss.
Security, optics and the Herat flashpoint
The timing of the order is no accident. It comes after the protests in Herat over the hijab, when the Taliban were accused of firing on demonstrators and leaving at least two dead. An analyst says the video of it set off alarms for the authorities, who were quick to deny it until the footage was hard to ignore.
So the ban is a two-for-one: keep your secrets in and don’t let the public film the next time there is a ruckus.
One well-known voice in Afghanistan has put it in perspective, pitting the tech news from other parts of the world against the image of a phone being clobbered, and called it a step into a more somber time.
Will the policy reach ordinary citizens?
Right now, it’s for the government. But if you ask an analyst, they’ll see it as a trial run. The Taliban have a history of starting with a little and then letting it seep out in an uneven way.
And you can see the patchwork nature of it. In some areas it’s just for officials. Elsewhere, it’s been applied to women, teachers, even those in the medical field.
Where it goes from here is in the hands of the military courts and the local commanders. With no standard way of doing things, there is plenty of guesswork involved.
What to watch next
Keep an eye on these few things:
– If the ban in some regions is opened up to the rest of us
– How many of those exemptions are actually given
– Any sign of sharia law being used for more than just a broken phone
Other nations might have a policy to handle the digital side of things, but in Afghanistan it is a matter of public example and the law. For the officials, the hit is right now. The bigger question is how much of life in the country will be left to go without a connection in the near future.
