Some students worry that the school will be shut down and that they will not be allowed to play again, even as a hobby.<\/b>
\nFor more than a decade, the Afghanistan National Institute of Music has stood as a symbol of the country\u2019s changing identity. It trained hundreds of young artists in artistic traditions that were once forbidden by the Taliban, and formed an all-female orchestra that performed widely in Afghanistan and abroad. But in recent days, as the Taliban have again consolidated control over Afghanistan, the school\u2019s future has been thrown into doubt. Several students and teachers said in interviews that they feared that the Taliban, who have a history of attacking the school\u2019s leaders, would seek to punish people affiliated with the school as well as their families. Several female students said they had been staying inside their homes since Kabul, the capital, was seized on Sunday. Some said they worried that the school will be shut down, that their dreams to become professional musicians could disintegrate and that they will not be allowed to play again \u2014 even as a hobby. \u201cIt\u2019s a nightmare,\u201d Ahmad Naser Sarmast, the head of the school, said in a telephone interview from Melbourne, Australia, where he arrived last month for medical treatment. The Taliban banned most forms of music when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. This time, they have promised a more tolerant approach, vowing not to carry out reprisals against their former enemies and saying that women will be allowed to work and study \u201cwithin the bounds of Islamic law.\u201d But their history of violence toward artists and their general intolerance for music without religious meaning has sowed doubts among many performers. \u201cMy concern is that the people of Afghanistan will be deprived of their music,\u201d Mr. Sarmast said. \u201cThere will be an attempt to silence the nation.\u201d The school\u2019s habit of challenging has tradition made it a target. In 2014, Mr. Sarmast was injured by a Taliban suicide bomber who infiltrated a school play. The Taliban tried to attack the school again in the years that followed, but their attempts were thwarted, Mr. Sarmast said. Now, female students say they are concerned about a return to a repressive past, when the Taliban eliminated schooling for girls and barred women from leaving home without male guardians.<\/p>\n