Now, Taliban lectures Pakistan on 'humanity'; condemns Afghan envoy's daughter's kidnap

Pakistan has been facing embarrassment globally after the daughter of the Afghanistan Envoy to Islamabad was abducted and assaulted on Saturday. To add to its woes, even the Taliban which is known for violence and subversion of women's rights - is giving lectures of 'humanity' to Pakistan over the incident of abduction.

Suhail Shaheen, an Afghan Taliban Politician and a Member of the Negotiations Team of Taliban, took to Twitter and schooled Pakistan on 'humanity' as he demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice.

Pakistan is yet to issue any response to the statement made by Suhail Shaheen who is also the spokesperson of the Taliban. It has, however, recalled its own envoy from Kabul after the Ashraf Ghani-led Afghanistan Government withdrew its diplomats posted in Pakistan over the envoy's daughter's kidnap. The Taliban's verbal salvo, however, comes as a double blow to Pakistan and its standing globally, given that Imran Khan's government has been accused by the Afghan government of supporting the Taliban militants. This is aside from the ignominy that is inherent in receiving a 'humanity' lecture from the Taliban which is even now claiming to have occupied a majority of the territories in Afghanistan by force and violence.

Taliban's violence and oppression of women

The Taliban's oppression of women in Afghanistan is widely known. Decades ago, when the Taliban had conquered Afghanistan, the insurgent group had forced the women to cover themselves from head to toe.

Since capturing several new areas in Afghanistan after the US and NATO forces withdrawal, the Taliban have re-imposed repressive laws and other retrograde policies on women that defined its iron fist rule from 1996 to 2001 including enforcing their version of Islamic Sharia law.

According to ANI, a report in Gandhara (Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty) said that the re-imposition of such repressive measures on Afghan women is the new brutal reality of tens of thousands of females who are presently living in areas, now captured by the Taliban. The re-imposition of such laws have come despite the Taliban claiming repeatedly that it has changed its ways. Reportedly, the Taliban has also issued a diktat asking Afghan residents to marry off their teen daughters to fighters in the terror group. In a statement shared online, the terror group has directed local leaders to prepare a list of all girls above 15 and widows under 45 to be married as ‘sex slaves’ to the group’s foot soldiers.

According to the British tabloid - The Sun, Taliban has said that the girls and women within the said age would be transported to the mountainous region of Waziristan in Pakistan where they would be married to the insurgents, converted into Islam, and reintegrated into the society.

The Taliban is at loggerheads with the Afghanistan Government which aims to govern democratically. The Taliban is seemingly attempting to reinstate the Islamist Emirate of Afghanistan with regressive belief systems after the US and NATO forces have begun the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan. Another round of peace talks which was held on July 19 led to a stalemate while the Taliban led violence continues unabated on the ground. After the inconclusive peace talk, fifteen missions, the EU delegation and the NATO representative in Kabul in a joint statement urged the Taliban to halt their military offensives across the war-torn country.