Taliban enforcers force medical graduates to remove ties at Herat University ceremony

KABUL: Armed enforcers of the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice disrupted a graduation ceremony for medical students at Herat University, ordering the graduates to remove their neckties. According to sources, the students were forced to take off their ties in front of approximately 2,000 attendees at the event. Some participants described the enforcers’ behavior as “humiliating” and “against social norms” during interviews with the media. The incident occurred on Friday night, in a hall in Herat, where around 50 graduates from the Faculty of Medicine were celebrating their accomplishment. Videos shared on social media show armed Taliban officials interrupting the program’s host, disrupting the ceremony, removing some students from the stage, and coercing them to remove their ties. This comes amid increasing restrictions imposed by the Taliban in Herat in recent days, including prohibiting women from entering certain places unless dressed according to the group’s standards, shooting at gatherings of young people (resulting in one death), and barring families from certain recreational areas. The events are part of the intensifying pressure from the Taliban concerning dress codes and the social presence of Herat’s residents.