WSJ: The Taliban’s Assault on Music

Members of the Taliban stand guard after setting fire to a pile of musical instruments and equipment in 2023. PHOTO: -/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

In Afghanistan, music is being silenced—not by the gentle passing of time, but by deliberate destruction. Photos recently appeared in the media showing piles of musical instruments reduced to ashes: guitars, sitars, tanburs and rubabs—the rubab, a national symbol of Afghan identity—among them. First, we wept; then we got angry. We call upon the global community to reverse this fundamental attack on Afghan society.

Read the entire WSJ Opinion piece by Ahmad Sarmast, Lesley Rosenthal and Jessica Lustig here.