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| Afghanistan |
| 'Virtue and Vice' minders return in Afghanistan |
| 2002-08-13 |
| The government "Virtue and Vice" people are back in business in Afghanistan, but this time the man in charge promises a kinder, gentler brand of Islamic conformity. "The Taliban used to beat people, beat women in the streets," said Mohammad Wazir Razi Kabuli. "Under Islam, you don't beat people. You invite them to change their ways." If they don't, then you can beat them. The power of persuasion, he said, will replace the crack of the whips the Taliban brandished to round people up for prayer. Ummm... What if they don't want to be persuaded? President Hamid Karzai's American-supported government announced Kabuli's appointment on Saturday as director of the Department of the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. At least that was what government television called it — a title similar to that of the Taliban time. Bet that made everybody watching just happy as little Muslim clams... By Monday, however, Karzai's spokesman Sayed Fazel Akbar was saying the government agency would actually be called the Department of Islamic Teaching. Which kinda implies a different function... Informed of this, Kabuli laughed and said, "Maybe this brother has no information about this subject. Or maybe he comes from the West" — a reference to the government's Afghan-Americans who are more sensitive to Western values and perceptions. "Virtue and Vice" is the name of his department, Kabuli insisted. It's good to see the Afghans getting along like this... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |