Zabihullah Mujahid: Afghan Women Should Stay Home

The Taliban spokesman has asked Afghan women to refrain from appearing in public for now, as militiamen have not yet received adequate training and there can be no guarantee of their proper conduct toward women. Is this a veiled threat or confirmation of the Islamists’ misogyny?

A clear shift in the Taliban’s stance on women; and this comes after contradictory and moderate claims in the initial days. The Taliban spokesman asked Afghan women to stay in their homes to protect themselves from potential dangers. Zabihullah Mujahid cited the reason for this appeal as “preventing misconduct” and the inexperience of militiamen in how to deal with women.

Quoting this spokesman, the New York Times wrote: “Our forces are inexperienced and have not received much training. We are concerned that they may harass women and, God forbid, harm them.”

These statements, which can be viewed as a threat against women and confirmation of violence by Taliban forces, stand in stark contradiction to previous claims by the Islamists. They had said that women should not worry about employment and education and would also have the right to leave home alone.

Zabihullah Mujahid, introduced as the Taliban’s Minister of Culture, had announced at his first press conference that women’s rights, education, work, and economic activities would be respected within the framework of Islamic law.

During the five-year period of Taliban rule over Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, women were deprived of education or social and economic participation and were required to have a male companion, even a young boy, with them for any activity in society.

Currently in Kabul, women still come to the streets without burqas and alone, and girls’ schools in various provinces remain open. Zabihullah Mujahid has emphasized that women staying home has a temporary and protective aspect, but his explicit recommendation could serve as a seal of approval on doubts and pessimism regarding a change in the Taliban’s approaches. They have claimed to have reconsidered their previous policies, but much evidence suggests that optimism in this regard is fading.

The Taliban has assured Afghan women that they will not be bothered, but few have forgotten their dark record. The Taliban’s record contains a long list of dos and don’ts for women and girls. Going to school, working, listening to music, wearing sandals, and leaving home without a man are all prohibited. Forced marriage, wearing a burqa, public flogging, and stoning are also among their rules.

Human Rights Watch, reviewing previous events in Afghanistan, has reminded that the Taliban in its previous period of rule over the country also asked women to stay home until conditions improved; but it soon became clear that this was a permanent approach to removing women from society.

Heather Barr, director of women’s affairs at Human Rights Watch, told the New York Times: “Back then they also said women were at risk outside the home and justified it by saying women would not be harmed. This time too, one can be sure that the situation the Islamists envision will never come to pass.”

Simultaneously with Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s political office spokesman in Qatar also, while claiming to respect women’s rights, told the Anadolu Agency: “Women have the right to education, employment, ownership, and the right to choose their own lives. But the situation will not improve in a day or two. We need time.”

Mohammad Naeem Wardak added that the efforts of the “occupiers” over the past 20 years to change the beliefs and traditions of the Afghan people have failed, and the Taliban will govern the country based on Islam. According to Anadolu Agency, he said: “In the Islamic world, there is no single and specific way in terms of managing and practicing Islam; elections or other methods are not goals but means.”

Previously, Wahidullah Hashemi, a senior Taliban commander, told Reuters that the situation of women and their civil and legal rights in the future will be determined by the Council of Islamic Scholars: “Scholars must ultimately decide on women’s education or employment. They must say whether girls can go to school or what their clothing should be.”

Source: DW