Local sources in Kandahar province say that Shir Ahmad Haqqani, the Taliban’s Minister of Information and Culture, during the “Gul-e Anar Poetry Gathering,” asked poets to compose poems in support and defense of the so-called “Islamic Emirate system.”
According to sources, the cultural event was held on Thursday evening, 17 Sawr, in Kandahar city, with the participation of a number of senior Taliban officials and poets aligned with the group.
Sources stated that in his speech, the Taliban Minister of Information and Culture urged poets to encourage the public—through poetry—to obey Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s leader. He also asked them to explain Akhundzada’s decrees to the people in poetic form.
Sources added that after the speeches, all poems and songs performed at the event were in support of and praising the Taliban regime and Hibatullah Akhundzada.
According to the sources, the Taliban had formed a special committee to organize the “Gul-e Anar Poetry Gathering,” and the committee had reviewed and approved all poems prepared for performance before the event took place.
In recent years, the “Gul-e Anar Poetry Gathering” has been held with the participation of Taliban officials and poets close to the group from various provinces. Earlier this week, on Monday, the Taliban also held the “Gul-e Narenj Poetry Gathering” in Nangarhar province.
Following criticism—particularly regarding the ban on women’s education and employment being raised during poetry gatherings—the Taliban drafted and approved a “Regulation Law for Poetry Gatherings.” One section of the regulation emphasizes that participants must refrain from criticizing the decrees, directives, rulings, and decisions of Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada. The regulation