RASC News Agency: Some neighborhood representatives and local leaders in Herat province claim that the Taliban mullahs and religious reciters have stripped them of all material and moral privileges. One of the neighborhood representatives in Herat province, speaking on condition of anonymity to RASC News Agency on Friday, Apr 19, stated, “Since taking control of the country, the Taliban have tied the hands of all local leaders, particularly neighborhood representatives and local leaders in Herat province, and deprived them of their ability to operate.”
He added that neighborhood representatives and local leaders play a fundamental role in communities, but their activities have diminished across various areas due to the presence of the Taliban. He urged the Taliban authorities to reconsider their decision to strip neighborhood representatives and local leaders of their authority and to pay attention to public concerns.
Meanwhile, a local leader in Herat province, who requested anonymity, told RASC News Agency, “The Taliban have revoked all the powers of neighborhood representatives and local leaders due to the actions of one or two individuals who have engaged in illegal activities in their areas, causing most of these community leaders and local elders to become idle and housebound.” According to him, this situation is unbearable for neighborhood representatives and local leaders who have devoted their lives to serving the people and now find themselves confined to their homes.
Additionally, Timur Alizai, a resident of Herat province, told RASC News Agency, “When neighborhood representatives and local leaders voiced their demands for their rights to senior Taliban officials, it was already too late.” He added that these two groups within society enriched themselves during the Republican era, and now that they have reached the end of their economic journey, they are making noise to resume their illicit activities.
He stated that this situation regarding neighborhood representatives and local leaders will not yield any positive results for the Taliban. However, Khalil Jami, a civil society activist in Herat province, told RASC News Agency, “Not all neighborhood representatives and local leaders, but some of them, openly charged poor people 500 to 1,000 kabuli rupees for a routine identity card stamp, which is the right of every citizen.”
He continued that the Taliban revoked the authority of neighborhood representatives and local leaders and confined them to their homes due to reports they received about extortion. He also noted that this is not the end of the story for them; neighborhood representatives and local leaders will have to pay back all the money they unlawfully collected from the people.
Taliban officials in Herat province confirmed that public reports led to the dismissal of all neighborhood representatives and local leaders. For the past two years, all the authority of neighborhood representatives and local leaders in Herat province has been revoked by the Taliban, resulting in complaints from some of them.
It is reported that some of these neighborhood representatives and local leaders are currently held in Taliban prisons in Herat province.
