When the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021, they quickly banned music, declaring it un-Islamic.
Musicians faced threats, raids, and the destruction of their instruments.
“Our homes were searched for what we had there,” says Faiz Muhammad Sakhki, an Afghan musician now living in Peshawar. “Our instruments were broken down, the instruments that we hid at home. Music is our passion, it is our love, and it is our profession.”
Sakhki and fellow musician Baryali Wali are among many Afghans who have sought refuge in Pakistan since the Taliban takeover.
In cities like Peshawar, they have been able to continue performing Afghan music, even as cultural spaces have shrunk elsewhere.
“Here, we can still work playing Afghan music. These possibilities don't exist in the West,” Wali says.
But that fragile lifeline is now under threat.
Since April 1, Pakistan has intensified its deportation of Afghan nationals, with over 50,000 already forced to leave.
For musicians, the stakes are especially high.
Returning to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan would leave them facing an uncertain future and an end to their ability to perform or teach music.
Now, with an uncertain legal status in Pakistan and no clear path forward, these musicians are left in limbo -- unsure how much longer they can remain or whether the rich traditions they carry can survive displacement once again.
They fear that Afghanistan’s musical heritage -- including ancient instruments like the rebab -- is at risk.
“If you take any of these [instruments] away, the whole ensemble is lost,” says Sakhki. “It is already disappearing.”
