Women in the streets of Kabul to claim their rights under the Taliban regime

Published on : 09/04/2021 – 09:19

Still no new government in Afghanistan. Its composition, which was to be announced on Friday, should not be known until Saturday. The Taliban, however, have suggested that there “may not be” women in senior positions. Afghan activists took to the streets of Kabul on Friday, September 3, to demand the participation of women in the ongoing consultations.

The Afghans and the international community will have to wait a little longer: the new government, on which the Taliban are expected to turn after their promise of openness, should ultimately not be unveiled before Saturday, at the earliest.

We should not expect any development on this subject before Saturday at the earliest, a Taliban spokesman said on Friday, while Taliban sources indicated on Thursday that the composition of the new government could be announced as early as Friday, after the prayer. The deputy head of their political office in Qatar, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, assured him on Wednesday that he would be known within two days.

>> To read: Exclusive: the Taliban prepare to unveil their government

Returning to power 20 years after being ousted from it by a coalition led by the United States, the Taliban have promised the establishment of an “inclusive” government and have multiplied, since their capture of Kabul on August 15, opening statements aimed at reassuring the population and the international community.

What about women?

Calls to integrate women into the new executive, however, should go unheeded. Asked Wednesday, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai hinted that “there may not be” women ministers or senior positions, deeming this option possible only at lower levels.

In reaction, about fifty Afghan activists took to the streets Thursday in Herat, the western capital, and Friday in Kabul to demand the participation of women in the ongoing consultations.

“We Afghan women have worked hard for 20 years.” says Hasina Bakhtaru, in the procession of Kabul. “We have studied and we are particularly invested in education. But we will surely be removed from the government. We want our rights back.”

“We know that women make up the majority of the Afghan population,” exclaims Samira Khairkhah, protest participant, “If we don’t have a role in education, health and politics, then the world won’t recognize us. not. He will not hear our voice. ”

The composition of the new executive will therefore be a test of the real desire for change displayed by the Islamists, whose first passage to power (1996-2001) was marked by a brutal policy towards women and political opponents. .

With AFP