Taliban claims government taken necessary steps for betterment of women

On Sunday, the Taliban’s supreme leader issued a message saying that his government has made the required steps to improve women’s lives in Afghanistan, where women are barred from public life and work and girls’ education is severely limited.
Hibatullah Akhundzada’s speech was made public ahead of the Eid al-Adha celebration, which will be observed later this week in Afghanistan and other Islamic countries. Akhundzada, an Islamic scholar, rarely appears in public or leaves the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan. He surrounds himself with religious experts and sympathisers who are anti-education and pro-women.

In his Eid address, Akhundzada stated that the Islamic Emirate’s authority has resulted in concrete measures to protect women from numerous traditional oppressions, including forced marriages, “and their Shariah rights have been protected.” Furthermore, the message stated that “necessary steps have been taken for the betterment of women as half of society in order to provide them with a comfortable and prosperous life according to Islamic Shariah.” Recently, Akhundzada appears to have taken a bigger influence in domestic affairs, prohibiting girls’ education after the sixth grade and prohibiting Afghan women from public life and labour, particularly in nonprofit organisations and the United Nations.

The message was sent out in five different languages: Arabic, Dari, English, Pashto, and Urdu. According to Akhundzada, the negative features of the preceding 20-year profession relating to women’s hijab wearing and “misguidance” will stop shortly. “The status of women as free and dignified human beings has been restored,” he said, adding that “all institutions have been obligated to assist women in securing marriage, inheritance, and other rights.”