RASC News Agency: In a searing statement condemning the Taliban’s increasingly repressive tactics, Daoud Naji, head of the Political Committee of the Afghanistan Freedom Front, denounced the recent arrest of prominent Islamic scholar Mowlawi Qanet and his underage son in Kabul, as well as the regime’s failed attempt to detain Mowlawi Abdul Qaher in Balkh province. Writing on his official X (formerly Twitter) account on Friday, May 24, Naji stated that the Taliban’s escalating persecution of respected clerics is driven by an existential fear of educated religious scholars particularly those who dare to expose the regime’s ideological bankruptcy and misuse of Islam as a political weapon.
“Figures like Mowlawi Qanet and Abdul Qaher strip the Taliban of its final illusion the so-called religious legitimacy it desperately clings to,” Naji wrote. “The Taliban’s claim to Islamic governance is nothing more than a tattered veil. And when that veil falls, as it inevitably will, the group’s true identity as a violent, power-hungry entity with no grounding in authentic Islamic principles will be laid bare for all to see.” Naji underscored that the Taliban’s entire regime hinges upon its ability to weaponize religious symbolism while simultaneously crushing the very scholars who uphold genuine Islamic teachings. “Without its carefully crafted religious mask,” he argued, “the Taliban has no legitimacy, no enduring credibility, and no future.”
In recent weeks, the Taliban has intensified its crackdown on dissenting voices within the religious establishment. The detention of Mowlawi Qanet widely known for his integrity, scholarship, and rejection of the Taliban’s extremist distortions alongside his innocent child, is a chilling demonstration of the regime’s descent into authoritarian paranoia. Simultaneously, in Balkh province, Taliban agents reportedly attempted to apprehend Mowlawi Abdul Qaher, another prominent religious figure who has openly questioned the Taliban’s theological credentials. These incidents are emblematic of a broader pattern: the Taliban, while draping itself in Islamic language, systematically persecutes the very scholars and clerics who challenge its monopolization of religious authority. Far from serving Islam, the regime appears increasingly focused on eradicating any independent religious thought that does not serve its authoritarian objectives.
The arrest of Mowlawi Qanet and his son is not merely a human rights violation it is a symptom of the Taliban’s crumbling ideological edifice. By turning its coercive machinery against respected scholars who advocate for truth, dignity, and authentic Islamic ethics, the regime reveals a deep crisis of legitimacy. It is no coincidence that the Taliban, which claims to be a religious government, cannot tolerate religious voices who dissent. What the regime fears most is not military opposition, but theological exposure. As Daoud Naji rightly stated, the Taliban’s religious mask is its final shield. The day it falls, the group will no longer be able to disguise its true motives: political domination, economic plunder, and the systematic erosion of Afghanistani identity and dignity. For a regime so obsessed with appearances, its undoing may well come from within from the courageous clerics who refuse to be silent in the face of theological tyranny.
