Purple Saturdays Movement: The Taliban, by Violating Cultural Freedoms, Are Trying to Turn Afghanistan into a Dark Graveyard

In a statement released by the Purple Saturdays Movement, it was mentioned that the Taliban had banned ancient celebrations like Yalda Night and Nowruz during their first period of rule. Now, for the third consecutive year, the group continues to ban these national and cultural traditions of Afghanistan, people forcing to celebrate this night under "difficult conditions and with fear of repression."

The Purple Saturdays Movement further stated that this ban not only suppresses a national celebration and violates the cultural rights and fundamental freedoms of the people but also represents a form of "cultural apartheid," aimed at destroying Afghanistan's cultural heritage and weakening the national identity of the people. This action may also lead to the erasure of cultural diversity and the creation of a unified society with the "ideology" of the Taliban.

The movement added that this Taliban policy "poses a risk of forgetting many cultural elements and weakening the national identity of the Afghan people, while on the other hand, it leads to the erosion of national solidarity and increases the flight of cultural elites from the country, which will more than ever cause irreparable damage to Afghanistan’s cultural diversity."

The movement also pointed to UNESCO’s silence regarding the Taliban’s actions and emphasized: "UNESCO, which has listed Yalda Night as a shared cultural heritage of Afghanistan and Iran in the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, has a responsibility to respond seriously to the Taliban's actions. However, no practical and effective measures have been taken in this regard, and it has only issued statements, which have undoubtedly been insufficient and ineffective, leaving the people of Afghanistan to pay the price for this silence and inaction through increasing repression."

The Purple Saturdays Movement further stated that the Taliban, by violating the cultural rights and freedoms of the citizens of Afghanistan, are trying to turn the country into "a dark graveyard where the voice of reason, culture, and joy is fading."

The movement criticized the international community and the United Nations, saying: "Despite having effective diplomatic and political tools to exert pressure on this group, the international community and the United Nations have, through indirect support for the Taliban under the guise of engagement, increased the normalization of repression of the basic and cultural rights and freedoms of Afghan citizens."

The movement expressed deep concern about the systematic and "planned" restriction of the cultural rights and freedoms of the people of Afghanistan by the Taliban, stressing that these actions could lead to the destruction of cultural diversity, the extinction of cultural heritage, the suspension or reduction of the transfer of this heritage to future generations, and the strengthening of "Taliban ideology" alongside the promotion of violence.

The movement emphasized that halting the violation of Afghanistan’s cultural rights and freedoms requires serious diplomatic and political measures from the international community and the United Nations, as "silence and inaction in the face of such gross human rights violations amounts to a betrayal of shared human and humanitarian values."

The movement also clarified that celebrating events like Yalda Night is not just a cultural celebration, but a symbol of "resistance against the Taliban" and the fight for the cultural rights and freedoms of the people of Afghanistan.