Taliban continue to crush women’s rights; raids Afghan activists' home

Taliban invaded a residence in Kabul on Thursday, bashing the door in and arresting a woman rights activist and her three sisters, AP reported citing an eyewitness. Armed men purporting to be from the Taliban intelligence department kidnapped Tamana Zaryabi Paryani and Parawana Ibrahimkhel, who had taken part in a number of protests in Kabul during the last few months, according to The Guardian.

Tamana Zaryabi Paryani, an activist, was one of around 25 women who took part in an anti-Taliban protest on Sunday against women's wearing of the Islamic headscarf, or hijab. Shortly before Paryani and her three sisters were abducted, a video of Paryani was shared on social media, showing her terrified and breathless as she screamed for help, claiming the Taliban were knocking on her door, according to the media agency.

According to AP, she can be heard saying in the video, “Help please, the Taliban have come to our home . . . only my sisters are home.” Other female voices can be heard crying in the background, “I can’t open the door. Please . . . help!”

The witness from the neighbourhood told AP that, around 10 armed men claiming to be from the Taliban intelligence department carried out the raid on Wednesday night. In a statement, the Taliban appeared to blame the incident on a recent women's protest, claiming that undermining Afghan values would no longer be tolerated. The apartment's front door, which was composed of metal and painted reddish-brown, was damaged and slightly ajar, according to AP footage taken on Thursday.

Around 8 pm, according to the eyewitness, the raid took place. Armed men stormed up to the third storey of Paryani's Kabul apartment complex and began knocking on her front door, demanding that she unlock it. Shortly before Paryani and her sisters were arrested, video of her begging for help and claiming that the Taliban were hammering on her door was shared on social media.

General Mobin Khan, the spokesman for the Taliban-appointed police in Kabul, tweeted that Paryani's social video post was a staged drama. Referring to a gathering on Sunday in which protestors appeared to burn a white burqa, a head-to-toe garment with only a mesh opening for the eyes, he wrote on Twitter, "Insulting the religious and national values of the Afghan people is not tolerated anymore.”

Taliban targets Afghan women’s rights activists

Whereas, Khalid Hamraz, the spokesman for Taliban intelligence, neither confirmed nor denied the arrest. Hamraz accused human rights activists of defaming Afghanistan's new Taliban authorities and security personnel in order to get asylum in the west. In Kabul, similar raids were reported on the houses of female protestors. Another Afghan demonstrator, whose identity has been withheld to protect her, claimed she was beaten and hurt, according to the Guardian. The Taliban came to her residence and attacked and severely beaten her, she told the Guardian. Her current location is, however, unknown.

The Taliban has implemented a slew of restrictions since taking control in mid-August, many of them are directed at women. They've been barred from numerous employment outside of health and education, their educational opportunities have been limited after sixth grade, and they've been forced to wear the hijab. The Taliban, on the other hand, has refrained from making the burqa mandatory, as it was when they ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s.

Women waved signs demanding equal rights and screamed "Justice!" at the demonstration on Sunday. They expressed concern that they would be forced to wear the hijab. Paryani was claimed to have attended the rally, which was dispersed after the Taliban shot pepper spray at the crowd, according to organisers. Paryani is a member of Seekers of Justice, a human rights organisation that has organised multiple demonstrations in Kabul, including Sundays. 

(With inputs from agencies)

(Image: AP)