RASC News Agency: Shukria Barakzai, former Ambassador of Afghanistan to Norway, voiced grave concern over the deteriorating condition of her homeland during a virtual symposium marking the second anniversary of the martyrdom of seven senior members of the Afghanistan Freedom Front. In her address, Barakzai highlighted a profound geopolitical transformation underway, noting that “those who once stood as enemies of Afghanistan have now become its allies.” Barakzai explained that the evolving global and regional political landscape has shifted the positions of several states that were once antagonistic toward Afghanistan. “In this complex and rapidly changing international environment, nations that once opposed our people are reassessing their stances and in many cases, extending support to the Afghanistanis in their just struggle for liberation and democracy.”
Turning her focus to the Taliban regime, Barakzai issued a scathing critique, stating unequivocally that the so-called Islamic Emirate is not an expression of the Afghanistani people’s will. “This so-called caliphate and emirate did not rise from the soul of the nation it is a construct imposed by foreign interests, stitched together in foreign hands and forced upon us through violence and coercion,” she said. She further condemned the Taliban as a group that has no social legitimacy or cultural alignment with the Afghanistani nation. “They are not a mirror of our identity, our aspirations, or our values. What they have established is not governance it is occupation under the guise of religion, and tyranny wrapped in the language of faith,” she added.
Barakzai underscored that the Afghanistani people deserve a government founded on universal democratic values and sustained by the consent of the governed. “No regime, no matter how armed or externally funded, can justly or sustainably rule a people unless it is grounded in the sovereign will of those it seeks to govern,” she declared. “True legitimacy is not taken by force it is earned through representation, accountability, and public trust.” The event brought together high-profile voices from across the Afghanistani diaspora figures united in their rejection of Taliban rule and their call for a new political order rooted in freedom, pluralism, and justice. The commemoration honored the memory of seven members of the Afghanistan Freedom Front, including Akmal Amir, who were killed by Taliban forces in an April 2023 attack in the Salang region.
Barakzai’s remarks come amid increasing disillusionment among Afghanistanis and the international community regarding the Taliban’s brutal regime, which continues to preside over economic collapse, mass displacement, systemic human rights violations, and the erasure of women and minorities from public life. While the Taliban strive to portray themselves as a legitimate authority, their governance remains defined by repression, not consent. The session concluded with a powerful collective call for the reestablishment of a democratic, inclusive government one that honors the dignity, diversity, and democratic aspirations of the Afghanistani nation.
