Taliban says religious scholars will lead govt in Afghanistan for 'sound political system'

Religious scholars will lead the upcoming government in Afghanistan, the Taliban has declared, in the aftermath of the collapse of the Ghani regime and the Capital Kabul’s takeover by the hardline Islamists, Afghanistan's Khaama Press News Agency reported. As the US and allied forces continue evacuations in pressure to meet the Aug. 31 deadline, the process of the formation of a new government in Kabul has paced up.

Taliban on Tuesday announced at one such gathering in Kabul, that the country’s 20 years of struggle (Jihad) should not go in vain and that the rule of Afghanistan should fall into the hands of religious scholars, who, not only will be responsible for making key decisions but will also be the core of the upcoming government of Kabul. 

Taliban on Aug. 24 invited tens of religious scholars at the grand ceremony requesting them to forge what they described as “a sound political system” for Afghanistan based on their version of stringent Sharia law, especially for women. Taliban spokesperson had earlier told reporters that Taliban would not discriminate against women but would give them their rights “within the bounds of shariah”.

[Internally displaced school teacher wearing a burqa from Takhar province. Credit: AP]

Fundamentalist regime issued orders for all the working women in Afghanistan to stay at home calling it a “temporary arrangement” as the UN  highlighted "credible" reports of abuses by the Taliban including a stern ban on women from moving out of their homes. 

During its rule in the 90s, the Taliban had banned young girls from availing of education as part of a set of restrictive policies on women. In its latest regressive move violating the women’s rights within the country, the hardline Islamists group announced the total ban of co-ed education in the restive Herat province.

Taliban justified that the ‘fatwa’ was “for-benefit” of the women and that co-ed education is the “root of all evils in society”. Taliban representative and Head of Higher Education, Afghanistan, Mullah Farid meanwhile argued that there “is no alternative and co-education must end.” He also imposed restrictions on the female lecturers from imparting lectures to male children or young male students in a gender-discriminatory rule. 

[People hold a poster demanding the security of girls and other people in Afghanistan during a demonstration in Berlin, Germany. Credit: AP]

“Taliban’s rights record in the 1990s was characterized by systematic violations against women and girls; cruel corporal punishments, including executions; and extreme suppression of freedom of religion, expression, and education,” a Human rights Watch report stated.

During deployment of US Army since 2002, millions of Afghan girls and women have participated in public life, have gone to school, held political office “in greater numbers than ever before in Afghanistan’s history,” the report added. 

'I am not allowed to work..' says Afghan woman TV personality 

On August 17, the New York Times carried the report, citing internal sources that the Taliban has "indefinitely suspended" women employees from state television. It attributed the news to Khadija Amin, a “prominent anchorwoman on state television” who informed the US broadcaster about the ground realities. 

“I am a journalist and I am not allowed to work. What will I do next? The next generation will have nothing, everything we have achieved for 20 years will be gone. The Taliban is the Taliban. They have not changed,” Amin was quoted saying. 

As the questions on women rights under the Taliban rule gained momentum, Taliban spokesperson, resorting to image correction, appeared with Beheshta Arghand, a female anchor with the privately-owned Tolo News. The latter was seen interviewing Taliban spokesperson Mawlawi Abdulhaq Hemad, who pledged “to honour” women’s rights amid restrictive orders wherein all women were confined to homes and were asked to cover their faces in public. Chief international correspondent for CNN, Clarissa Ward, was spotted on-ground in Afghanistan clad in ‘burqa’ [black veil] on orders of the radical Islamist group. The 41-year-old was out interacting with armed Taliban fighters when she was reminded of the Taliban’s compulsory directive of women. 

Speaking at Tuesday’s gathering, however, Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid swore by an all-inclusive government "irrespective of the partisan, lingual, and sectarian values.” He called on the Afghan people to come together and build the nation, according to the Khaama press agency, which also reported that the Taliban are in talks with intra-Afghan leaders for the formation of the new government. 

(With inputs from ANI)