How Kabul's popular music school has been silenced after Taliban takeover

With the Taliban taking over Afghanistan, almost every area of art and culture is facing a threat of extinction from the country. The students and staff at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) are facing uncertain days after the Taliban recent announced they would ban music following their takeover of the country. The door of the once-celebrated school now remain shut and its hallways have fallen silent.

The institute's founder and director Dr Ahman Sarmast explained to the BBC that how the students are scared to attend the music school post the Taliban's accession to power. "They clearly understand that if they return to the school, they might face consequences or be punished for what they've been doing," Sarmast said.

Some of the students have even returned their instruments to the school as they felt it was safer there instead of keeping at home, where fighters of the Islamist group might fight them.

The school, located in Kabul, was a popular institute that thrived for more than a decade. ANIM was one of its kind in the country which trained boys and girls in the same room- a rarity in Islamic Afghanistan. The students were taught both Afghan and Western classical music.

Even orphans and street children were encouraged to attend, and many graduates were the first in their families to receive a formal education.

The school also established Afghanistan's first all-female orchestra Zohra, which in a short span of time has gained a huge audience across the world. Most of the members of the band belong to a Kabul orphanage and are of the age group between 13-20.

In the past few weeks, as the Taliban took over the country, the orchestra, much like the music school has gone completely silent. "It is a time of devastation of our dreams, of hope, of inspiration for the future," Dr Sarmast said.

"The students are very fearful about their future - not just of their education and their (music) programme, but also about their life," he said. "They do not feel safe in Afghanistan."

While Dr Sarmast is stuck in Australia, his staff have informed that the Taliban has overrun the campus but not damaged it.

Dr Sarmast, well known as an educationist across Afghanistan, was visiting family in Australia when the Taliban took over Kabul. He revealed that how the Taliban is looking for him and has even pressurised some of his staff members to hand over the keys of the institute. The director though has insisted that he will only speak to senior leaders of the Taliban. (Agencies)

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