RASC News Agency: The Purple Saturdays Movement has condemned the United Nations for engaging in what it calls “political brokerage” for the Taliban. The movement has urged the United Nations to close the doors of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and to cease its “whitewashing” of the Taliban.
In a statement, the movement declared, “The United Nations granting opportunities to the Taliban is a diabolical scheme to deceive the Afghanistani people.” The protesting women of this movement assert that the Taliban, during nearly three years of their rule in Afghanistan, have proven themselves to be unchangeable. The women further claim that in remote areas of Afghanistan, they are victims of “discrimination, oppression,” and deprivation imposed by the Taliban.
The statement emphasized, “The Taliban have shown over nearly three years that they are immutable; however, the United Nations, at the behest of the Taliban and in denial of women’s voices at the Doha meetings, is attempting to facilitate their engagement with the international community.” The statement also urged Qatar to halt its support for the Taliban.
This comes in the wake of the United Nations holding its third Doha meeting last Sunday and Monday, with the Taliban participating in the session. However, Afghanistani women were not invited to this meeting, and important issues concerning human rights were not discussed. Civil society activists and protesting women in Afghanistan labeled the meeting as an effort to whitewash the Taliban.
It is worth noting that following the third Doha meeting, a side meeting was held with eight participants. Madina Mahboobi, one of the attendees, called for engagement with the Taliban. Yet, Afghanistani women have denounced these participants as opportunists, not their true representatives.
