RASC News Agency: Malala Yousafzai, renowned Pakistani women’s rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has denounced the Taliban as mercenaries, asserting that they do not embody the essence of Islam or the culture of Afghanistan. Instead, she described them as a misogynistic and terrorist organization. In an interview with “Kaki”, a television channel affiliated with ABC, Malala stated, “The Taliban are not the true representatives of Islam or Afghanistan culture.” She underscored that Islam has never forbidden women from education or employment but instead enshrines their right to pursue knowledge and contribute to society.
Malala criticized the international community’s failure to support Afghanistani women, describing it as a profound error with consequences extending far beyond Afghanistan. She warned, “If the world does not take a stand for Afghanistani women, the future of both these women and the country will remain bleak.” She further noted, “The Taliban’s oppressive rule has inflicted long-term harm on women and citizens. The less access women have to education, the more susceptible their children become to extremist ideologies.” Numerous other human rights and women’s rights activists have similarly condemned the Taliban as adversaries of Afghanistan and Islam, accusing the group of fostering severe insecurity and social regression.
Since reclaiming power, the Taliban have systematically dismantled fundamental rights and freedoms, particularly for women. Strict restrictions have been imposed on their mobility, barring them from public spaces such as parks and prohibiting girls and women above sixth grade from attending schools and universities. In their latest decree, the Taliban’s leader has further curtailed women’s freedoms by banning their presence in public spaces entirely. Additionally, women are now forbidden from reciting the Quran, engaging in prayer, or chanting religious hymns audibly in the presence of other adult women.
