A Taliban commander has revealed that the terrorist group wants Islamic law implemented all over the world. The commander, known as Nisar, made the revelation in a recent interview with The Telegraph.
Nisar told the media outlet that the Taliban wants “good relations” with the rest of the world and that they want to “work with foreigners.” The journalist who interviewed the commander said that he was warmly welcomed inside the government building. He calls the greeting the Taliban’s “charm offensive” after a long period of viewing Western journalists with suspicion.
Nisar joined the insurgent group 18 years ago. “I joined the Taliban because when the Americans came, we had our government, our culture and the Americans came and attacked us… They didn’t want to come for al-Qaeda, they had their own interests and wanted to destroy our country,” he said.
The commander added that the Taliban will learn from its mistakes in the past. Due to internal fighting, there was no opportunity to properly govern, he admits. But this time, “it will be a little bit different” because “we have our Islamic law.” However, Nisar’s ambition for an Islamic state does not stop at the borders of Afghanistan.
“We are happy that we are victorious. We fought for 20 years. We want Islamic law, and not just in Afghanistan,” the commander stated.
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One Taliban fighter said that the Islamic emirate would be “forever” and that the West should not come to Afghanistan again or they will have to fight with the Taliban “for another 20 years.” Another one called British and Americans “infidels.”
The Taliban has officially renamed the country the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The outfit’s Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada recently stated that the newly formed government will uphold “Islamic rules and Sharia law in the country.” He insisted that the Islamic Emirate “has no problem with anyone.”
The Print’s recent analysis of 23 Muslim-majority countries showed that preference for Sharia and personal freedoms in the state have a negative relationship. It means that nations, where there is a strong approval for Sharia, are places where there are severe restrictions on individual freedoms. Countries like Iraq, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt, where there is a huge preference for Sharia law, also have low levels of freedom.
“Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania, the two Muslim-majority countries in eastern Europe, where individuals were freer than the global average score, had the lowest approval for Sharia as the law of the land — around 10-12 percent,” says The Print report.
A key issue of the Taliban’s Sharia rule is the lack of women’s rights. Zia Shahreyar, a senior journalist with BBC Persian, recently tweeted a video of an interview with a Talibani official who compared women with melons.
“Do you buy a sliced melon or an intact melon. Of course the intact one. A woman without Hijab is like a sliced melon,” the official says in the interview.
Though the Taliban has said that it would respect the rights of women, the reality seems to be completely different. The government formed by the Taliban does not have a single female minister.
Dozens of women took to the streets to protest against the all-male interim government. They said that they will not accept an administration that does not have females in power. The authorities beat up the women and dispersed the protestors. Journalists who covered the protests were also detained and beaten.
Taliban fighters blame the West for women protesting on the streets. “Those women are Westernized and they want a Western government and they are against Islamic law. In Islam, there’s great respect for women. I wonder why they are protesting,” a fighter said.
The Taliban has banned sports activities for women, claiming it will “expose their bodies.” Ahmadullah Wasiq, deputy head of the Taliban’s cultural commission, stated that sports were not necessary for women.
Taliban is also insisting that only female teachers educate females. If enough women teachers are not available, “old men” of good character will teach them. Women attending universities are now required to wear a full-length dress and a garment that covers their faces. The classes must be divided by a curtain or segregated by gender.
