The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of "Islamic Emirate" has confirmed that the holiday of Ashura has been removed from the new calendar.
Mohammad Yunus Siddiqi; The spokesperson of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs said that in the new calendar of the government, the arrival of the Mujahideen in Kabul, Milad Sharif (the birthday of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH), Nowruz and Ashura (the 10th of Muharram) have been removed.
He said that the reason for removing these days as holidays was the large number of holidays in the Afghan calendar.
At the same time, the commission for organizing the Ashura ceremony in Kabul says that the "Islamic Emirate" asked them not to hold street mourning "for security reasons".
Last year, the celebration of Muharram and Ashura coincided with the first days of the arrival of Taliban forces in Kabul, a number of "Islamic Emirate" officials participated in the mourning ceremony and gave speeches, and "Islamic Emirate" people provided security for the programs.
The first point is that this year's Ashura was held in complete security and peace throughout the country without any security incident, and this can be an important achievement and hopeful news for the people.
Undoubtedly, the measures taken by the "Islamic Emirate" for this purpose played a major role in holding the Ashura ceremony throughout the country in a safe environment.
On the other hand, the people also cooperated with the security forces and did not allow passion without intelligence and irrational emotions and emotions without rational justification to overcome the current realities and the opportunity to actualize potential threats from the enemies of the religion and the country.
This is also worthy of appreciation and it is expected that it will be extended to other fields in the future so that a network of constructive cooperation between the government and the nation and the synergy of their capacities will put the country on the path of security and stability.
However, before the arrival of Ashura, the removal of this important religious occasion from the country's official calendar led to many discussions and caused a reaction from some people.
In addition, imposing some concrete restrictions on holding mourning ceremonies in the streets and in a number of special centers such as the shrine attributed to Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) in Mazar-e-Sharif, which hosts hundreds of thousands of people every year to celebrate Ashura and hold the mourning ceremony of Sayyed al-Shuhada and companions. He was the one who attracted people's attention and raised questions and concerns about the policies of the "Islamic Emirate" regarding people's mourning rituals.
Undoubtedly, the government of "Islamic Emirate" has spokespersons and responsible officials in all fields related to the above areas, and as mentioned above, part of the official explanations of the responsible officials have explained about this and given special reasons.
However, as far as the Afghan people in general and the country's Shiites in particular are concerned, Ashura can never be removed; Even if it is no longer on the calendar or the street mourning is completely dismantled. Only a few years have passed since this day was included in the country's official calendar as a public holiday; but celebrating Ashura and mourning for Imam Hussain (AS) and his companions is hundreds of years old, and no obstacle has ever been able to remove it. Rather, day by day, its glory and greatness has been increased and expanded.
Ashura is a light that has penetrated into the hearts and souls and faith of people and is mixed with their deepest human feelings and flows like blood in the veins of the followers of the religion of freedom and fighting against oppression, violence and tyranny. Therefore, the reasonable approach for people and governments is to bow before this obvious truth, and as Shir Mohammad Masoum Stanekzai; Political deputy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stated in his important speech on this year's Ashura day in Kabul, "We are all followers of Imam Hussain (AS). The love of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him) and his Ahl al-Bayt is obligatory for everyone. No one can become a complete Muslim without the love of Imam Hussain (AS) and Ahl al-Bayt in his heart.