Four young boys were arrested in Afghanistan’s Herat for wearing clothes inspired from the hit British TV series Peaky Blinders, Taliban authorities confirmed.
Saif Ul Islam Khyber, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, said that the arrests took place in Jebrail Township and the boys were charged for “promoting foreign culture”.
According to Afghan media, pictures of the young boys wearing long coats, flat caps and attire similar to the Shelby family from the show (Peaky blinders) had been making the rounds on Afghan social media.
The young boys claimed in a YouTube interview that they enjoyed the style because of the show and that they received positive feedback from the locals.
One of them stated that he intended to eventually showcase cultural clothing from different ethnic communities in Afghanistan.
However, Taliban authorities deemed the attire “contrary to Islamic values and Afghan culture”. A video released by the ministry showed one of the arrested youths expressing regret over his clothing choice.
Previous arrests by the Taliban over alleged dress code violations indicate the authorities are continuing their crackdown on foreign-inspired fashion.