A group of Afghan women protesting the creation of a hardline, male-only interim government was beaten with whips and sticks on Wednesday as part of the Taliban’s latest crackdown on dissent in Afghanistan, CNN reports.
CNN obtained videos and photographs showing women chanting, ‘Long live the women of Afghanistan’. Several signs read, ‘No government can deny the presence of women,’ and ‘I will chant freedom over and over’. According to witnesses, the Taliban also assaulted journalists covering the demonstration. The demonstrators threatened her with whippings and urged her to return home, recognize and accept the Emirate.
‘We haven’t been included or granted any rights in the Emirate, so why should we accept it?’ According to Ariana News, the women urged the Taliban to keep their promises made in the past to protect women’s rights. They also demanded women be appointed to high-ranking government jobs. ‘We are not the women of the past, our rights must be respected,’ she said. Another activist, Diba Farahmand, asserted that they would continue to struggle despite the violence against them.
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The interim ‘Islamic Emirate’ government was announced on Tuesday without any mention of women, religious minorities, or members of Afghanistan’s deposed leadership. Several Taliban members who are considered hardliners are in the cabinet. Zabihullah Mujahid, the main spokesman of the group, released a list that was overwhelmingly composed of old-guard members. In addition to Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund as prime minister, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Molavi Abdul Salam Hanafi were named as his deputies.
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