BBC/Instagram: @john_shelby0093In a truly stranger than fiction case, four men have been detained by the Taliban for dressing up as characters from Peaky Blinders, and they’re now being sent to rehab.
Right now, Steven Knight’s BBC drama series – which centers on the titular Birmingham gang – is going through a renaissance, with the upcoming Peaky Blinders movie The Immortal Man seeing Cillian Murphy reprise his role as Thomas Shelby.
What’s more, a sequel series set in the 1950s is in development, focusing on the next generation of the Shelby family as they navigate a post-WWII Birmingham.
Off-screen, the franchise’s popularity keeps rising worldwide, but its influence has taken an unexpected turn in Afghanistan, where fans imitating the Shelby aesthetic have now found themselves in trouble with the Taliban.
Taliban detain Peaky Blinders cosplayers
As first reported by Afghanistan’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, four young men in Herat, Afghanistan, have been detained and placed into a “rehabilitation program” after dressing in outfits inspired by Peaky Blinders.
Local authorities accused the group – who rose to fame in the country for walking through their town wearing flat caps and trench coats, Shelby family style – of “promoting foreign culture”.
Saif-ur-Islam Khyber, a spokesman for the government ministry, said in a social media post, “They were promoting foreign culture and imitating film actors in Herat, arrested, and a rehabilitation program started for them.
“Praise be to Allah, we are Muslims and Afghans; we have our own religion, culture, and values. Through numerous sacrifices, we have protected this country from the spread of harmful cultures, and now we are also defending it.”
However, speaking to CBS, Khyber clarified that the Peaky Blinders fans – Asghar Husinai, Jalil Yaqoobi, Ashore Akbari, and Daud Rasa – were “only summoned and advised and released” rather than being formally arrested.
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As said, they will enter a rehabilitation program for behavior correction. “We have our own religious and cultural values, and especially for clothing we have specific traditional styles,” Khyber added.
“The clothing they wore has no Afghan identity at all and does not match our culture. Secondly, their actions were an imitation of actors from a British movie.
“Our society is Muslim; if we are to follow or imitate someone, we should follow our righteous religious predecessors in good and lawful matters.”
The news arrives after the foursome appeared on Afghan YouTube channel Herat-Mic, where they explained that they admire the TV show’s style and had received praise from locals.
A Taliban spokesman said in a video statement posted online (via ABC News), “A Muslim should guard Islam’s red lines, should not unnecessarily copy non-Muslims, and set their ideals in accordance with Islamic values and Afghan culture.”
But Mujib Abid, a researcher with the University of Melbourne’s Initiative for Peacebuilding, told the outlet that the Peaky Blinders cosplaying is an example of the many ways Afghans are resisting the Taliban’s “suffocating regime” after it recaptured the capital in 2021.
A friend of the four young men, who remained anonymous for their safety, also told CBS that their detention was “ridiculous,” adding, “The country always feels like a prison.
“Our friends wore these outfits for no political or other reason – just for fun – and the Taliban’s religious police detained them… They admired the British series and wanted to share that admiration, but it turned into a nightmare.”