LAUGHINGSTOCKS:

When a Taliban militant meets Afghan pop star Ayrana Sayeed, he tries to charm her. 

"If you marry me, I will have a beard and a moustache and tanks. And I will build you a nightclub!"

The scene, completely unimaginable in real life with the singer now based in exile after fleeing in the wake of the Taliban's takeover, is part of a satirical YouTube animation series that has captivated Afghans in recent weeks.

It shows Sayeed appearing to the militant in his dreams. But then the man, sleeping with his Kalashnikov slung around his shoulder, wakes up to reality to find he is in fact hugging a bearded fellow militant. [...]

Satire can also make the political figures targeted "think twice" about the way they govern and the measures they take, said Zafar, who posts his work under the name "Imam Musa".

One of his jokes recently posted on Afghanistan International, a widely read news site for Afghans, referenced vegetables to poke fun at the Taliban. 

"A new committee has been formed within the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice to discuss the shape of cucumbers, eggplants and pumpkins" -- in case they resemble sexual organs. 

For the same reasons, "bakers now have two weeks to produce bread that is neither round nor long," he continued.

His post echoed the televised statements of a pro-Taliban cleric who at the end of September advised women "not to put on perfume when they leave their homes", nor to wear shoes with heels or click them on the ground lest they arouse men.

"The ignorance and narrow-mindedness of the Taliban energises satirists," said Imam Musa.

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