Kabul, Sep 11
After the Taliban deployed security in Kabul opted to aerial gunfire, lashes and manhandling of female protesters, who were marching in an anti-Taliban rally in Kabul; veiled women have taken to the streets and staged a rally in support of the Taliban regime.
Around 300 women, wearing black veils marched on the streets of Kabul and later sat at the Kabul university lecture theatre, asserting their support to the Taliban leadership, especially on gender segregation.
The women were carrying with them Taliban flags while the speakers criticized the west for what they called, an illegal invasion of Afghanistan.
In comparison to a women-led anti-Taliban protest rally, where participants and even journalists were blocked, stopped and assaulted by the Taliban security personal; the Taliban heavily guarded this particular pro-Taliban rally.
Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid, responding to a question about the anti-Taliban protest rally, said that there is no permission for any rally unless it is permitted by the Taliban regime.
This interpreted in one way means that anyone wanting to raise their voice against the Taliban, will not be allowed to voice their concern, while on the other hand, it means that a pro-Taliban event or rally, will be allowed by the Taliban regime, primarily because it would act at a counter-narrative to anti-Taliban sentiments, especially with reference to women's rights in the country.
The speakers at the Shaheed Rabbani Education University, where the pro-Taliban women gathered, said they were against those women, who are protesting against the Taliban on the streets, insisting that those women are not representatives of women.
"Is it freedom to like the last government? No, it is not freedom. The last government was misusing women. They were recruiting women just by their beauty", said one of the speakers at the gathering.
"Those not wearing the Hijab are harming all of us", said Shabana Omari, a student of the university, who criticized women who are not wearing headscarves.
"We are supporting our government with all our strength", said another speaker Somaiya.
Women's rights in Afghanistan have become a global debate, especially after the Taliban announced their interim government with zero representation of women and later banned women from playing any sport, as it would reveal their faces and bodies.
The new Taliban government maintains that it would be providing all rights to the women, which are legitimate under the Islamic Shariah law, which includes Hijab or Burka as the dresscode.
Barbaric video shows Taliban celebrating with severed head of their victim
New Delhi, Sep 11 (IANS) The Taliban beheaded an Afghan soldier, then chanted praise to their leader Hibatullah Akhundzada while holding the severed head of their victim by his hair in a video posted in a private Taliban chat room, Washington Examiner reported.
The 36-second video, which was obtained by the Washington Examiner, was posted a week ago. It's unclear when it was made, but on August 17, Taliban leaders promised amnesty for government workers and protection for women.
In the video, six Taliban fighters surround the soldier, lying on his back in the desert with his head atop his chest. Five of the men are carrying rifles, and a sixth is holding two bloody knives in one hand. A seventh person is filming the event, the report said.
The soldier is wearing a dark green uniform of the type assigned to the national army by US forces.
The knife-wielding assailant, apparently the group's leader, is seen raising his weapons in the air. In a translation from Pashto provided to the Washington Examiner by a USmilitary source, the men are heard chanting, "Mujaheddin!"
Then they shout: "God is great and long life to Ameer ul momeneen Mullah Haybat Uallah Akhunzada!"
Mujaheddin is an Arabic term for guerilla fighters, and Ameer ul momeneen is a phrase of endearment. Mullah Haybat Uallah Akhunzada is the supreme leader of the Taliban.
At the end of the video, the group leader shouts, "Shoot him! He has to look shot!" as the fighters line up to shoot, the report added.
"This is barbaric, and I will never trust the Taliban," said Afghan security consultant Nasser Von Waziri, who worked with government agencies across the country while Americans were stationed there. "A terrorist is always a terrorist."
Brig Gen Don Bolduc, who oversaw the police and army training as Special Ops commander, said he was saddened and sickened by the video, the report said.
(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)
