“We are going to allow women to work and study. We have got frameworks, of course. Women are going to be very active in the society but within the framework of Islam,” Zabihullah Mujahid, the group’s spokesman, said at a press conference in Kabul on Tuesday.
Mujahid, who had been a shadowy figure for years, said that “there will be no discrimination against women” adding that “they are going to work shoulder to shoulder with us.”
Pressed on how the new Taliban government will differ from the previous one, Mujahid said that the group has evolved and will not take the same actions they did in the past.
“There will be a difference when it comes to the actions we are going to take” compared with 20 years ago, he said.
“We are committed to the media within our cultural frameworks. Private media can continue to be free and independent. They can continue their activities,” he said.
He also said the group has no plans to enter the homes of people or carry out retaliatory attacks on anyone who served in the previous governments, worked with foreigners or were part of the Afghan National Security Forces.
There have been unconfirmed reports of Taliban fighters entering the homes of Kabul residents, but Mujahid said those were impostors who should be turned over to the Taliban and face appropriate punishment
Not just the West. If they want to operate a successful economy they will need to be a place where other countries and industries feel somewhat comfortable doing business in.
They're probably well aware that retributive killings and rolling women's rights back to 1996 is not a good first step towards rebuilding the country under a unified government.
There have been (slow) advances in women's rights in Iran and Saudi Arabia since the 90s, so it's not out of the realm of possibilities to see some (minor) advances in Afghanistan, too.
I support the Taliban over the west since 1996, I mean which one stopped child prostitution and opium production?
They funded it's predecessor to fight the Soviets and it immediately started fighting the USA when they kicked the Soviets out. Enemy of my enemy.
Supporting murderous anticommunists to own murderous anticommunists.
Yeah alright they may have reduced women to the level of animals at best but they stopped opium production so that's cool.
I sure fucking hope so
Edit:
Women are going to be very active in the society but within the framework of Islam
This is the key. In their interpretation of Islam, what, exactly are women's rights?
The question was about "their interpretation of Islam". The Taliban have a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam that is very repressive towards women.
Edit: Oh, 15 hour old account, okay I see, go have your fun
wow I can't believe a 1600 year old religion might have regressive views on women
If Islam is so repressive against women then why does Iran treat transwomen the best out of any country? Paid transition, forced legal recognition, been doing it since the 80s.
of course the taliban supports women's rights. women's right to shut the fuck up
i have 0 faith in this lol, they just want to make sure there is not any retaliatory action
No faith in it, but saying good things is the first step. I, for one, would be completely unsurprised if it turns out the coverage of the Taliban over the past few decades has not exactly been accurate and up to date.
the coverage of the Taliban over the past few decades has not exactly been accurate and up to date.
What are you talking about they have only been a thing for a few decades, they were in government less than 20 years ago.
Yeah, that's what I meant -- going back to the 90s is "a few" decades."
Do you think the Taliban went into the mountains to do a personal growth and go woke the last 18 years or so? There is absolutely no reason to have any faith in this beyond that maybe they won't go nuts like in the 90s because they're not in a position to want to be internationally isolated. But if you hear them speak it's pretty obvious they've not changed, they're saying "oh don't worry we're not gonna do x" and then put a bunch of asterisks. They're fanatically religious mountain warriors and they will act that way, which also means there may very well be a new refugee crisis in Europe so get ready for whatever that means for the course of politics.
Do you think the Taliban went into the mountains to do a personal growth and go woke the last 18 years or so?
They actually didn't retreat to wage a decades long guerilla war. They were just taking a break to practice self care
There is absolutely no reason to have any faith in this
If you recall, my first comment that you responded to began with the words "No faith in it."
That said, I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that corporate media exaggerated/selectively emphasized/misrepresented facts about an enemy of the United States. It's happened in literally every other war we've fought, without exception, so really we're asking to what degree the facts have been twisted. Further, even fundamentalist religious nuts are not static in their beliefs. In the past 20 years Saudi Arabia and Iran have (lightly) loosened restrictions on women -- is it so far fetched to believe that another fundamentalist Muslim group could do the same? And of course you have the material reality of the situation, which is that a new government (that's already had assets frozen by the U.S., and knows without a doubt it will be the target of endless imperial harassment at best) is trying to maintain stability and legitimacy. Simply as a practical matter, you now have women in positions where immediately cutting them out would cause problems. You also have a generation of people who have grown up in a country where women had a lot more freedom than they had in the 1990s -- how much of that toothpaste can be put back in the tube, and how high of priority is that over stability and legitimacy?
They're probably not going to follow through on this, but some modest improvements from the 90s are certainly possible.
In the past 20 years Saudi Arabia and Iran have (lightly) loosened restrictions on women – is it so far fetched to believe that another fundamentalist Muslim group could do the same?
Yes, because at least in the case of Iran and Saudi Arabia there has been a greater deal of communication with the rest of the world and a longer period of stability and material improvement. Actually I wouldn't even really say that for Saudi Arabia, and Iran was always better than the Taliban in that regard. This has not been allowed to happen in Afghanistan and particularly for the Taliban. There is nothing exaggerated about the Taliban, it is very hard to exaggerate something like that. Just ask the refugees leaving the place in droves trying to get to Turkey and Europe. We've had a lot of them here and I'm sure we'll have more now.
As a practical matter yes, I think there will be some improvement compared to the 90s, but I don't believe they have changed in their beliefs.
I mean, yeah, but still a change of face from the riders of the apocalypse thing they had going on publicly in the 00’s. I’ve no doubt this is just them figuring out the western methods of exploitation with a likable public face.
Yeah it's 100% just rhetoric. This is the type of thing everyone says when they're trying to transition from being a militant group to being a peacetime government. It's good rhetoric though, I'll give them that.
but within the framework of islam
within our cultural frameworks
mmhm
Yeah I heard one of them say on CNN "well we're gonna let women live the way they want, we will let them go to school, they just have to wear niqab, and go to female only schools" and stuff like that.
"Womens rights will be respected to the extent that I think they should be respected"
this wouldn't be all that wild tbh
its not very hard to find women who'll support and participate in anti-feminist conservative government
Watching an interview with a Taliban leader on CNN right now https://hexbear.net/pictrs/image/t7rxTFO6Pu.jpg
My wife's divorce attorney said the same thing! I don't have a house now or visitation rights because I believed him! Always read the fine print, friends.
Ohhhh this is part of negotiated withdrawal to make Biden not look so bad
