The message is clear: adhere to the Qur’an, don’t idolize human beings, and especially one who opposed those who are in power. The insult will be perceived and possibly become the pretext for retaliation.

“Taliban replace statue of Hazara leader in Bamiyan with Koran,” AFP, November 11, 2021:

Kabul (AFP) – The Taliban have replaced the statue of a Hazara leader declared a national martyr by the former government with a replica of the Koran, Bamiyan residents said Thursday — a move they warned could trigger violence.

The original statue depicted Abdul Ali Mazari, a leader of the mostly Shiite minority killed while he was a prisoner of the Taliban during their first stint in power.

The statue was decapitated by a rocket-propelled grenade soon after the Taliban returned to power in August, in an incident residents of the city in central Afghanistan blamed on the hardline Islamists.