The Taliban have banned the celebration of Nowroz, the Persian new year, in Daikundi province. The ban has been imposed in the Hazara-Shia-dominated province by the group’s Directorate of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
The Directorate of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice of the Taliban in Daikundi stressed that inspectors of the group have met with people at 35 mosques in the province and conveyed to them that "Islam has forbidden the celebration of Nowroz".
According to a statement by the directorate, the Taliban inspectors have urged people to resist "western thoughts.”
The Taliban have also warned the people of Kiti district in Daikundi province not to celebrate Nowroz and avoid exchanging gifts with one another.
Back in the 1990s, the Taliban had banned the celebration of Nowroz in provinces controlled by the group.
However in 2022, the group had announced that it will not hold any ceremony to celebrate Nowroz, but the group will not prevent people from celebrating it.
The Taliban has imposed a ban on the celebration of Nowroz while the United Nations has recognised Nowroz as an international occasion.
