In a new measure meant to restrict women's role in the Afghan society, a leading figure in the Taliban tried to 'justify' the group's decision of barring women from participating in a first-of-a-kind national conference.
Men will represent women at gathering for national unity says Taliban leader #Afghanistan https://t.co/yzJ2Zc1FsV
— Yalda Hakim (@BBCYaldaHakim) June 30, 2022
The Taliban is organizing a gathering of 3,000 of the country's male political, social, and religious leaders in Kabul, to discuss different pressing issues and work to "unite" Afghanistan. Yet, the complete absence of women had triggered many questions about the group's policy towards women.
Senior leader of the Taliban, Abdul Salam Hanafi, told the press that the Taliban decided that the conference organized starting on Thursday will be restricted to male participants only.
Hanafi justified the decision to not invite female politicians or local leaders to the conference held for the first time in the group's "desire to protect and honor women", claiming that "women's sons will represent them in the gathering".
"The women are our mothers, sisters. We respect them a lot; when their sons are in the gathering, it means they are also involved, in a way, in the gathering [...] Different people with different views are going to gather. This will be a positive step for stability in Afghanistan and strengthening national unity" - Abdul Salam Hanafi
However, the statement made by Abdul Salam Hanafi did not stop the backlash following the decision, as thousands of people condemned the group's continuous attempts to exclude women from public life in Afghanistan.
This decision comes almost more than 10 months after the militant group, formerly ousted from power in 2001 by the US-led NATO invasion, returned to power and pledged to "protect women's rights, as well as the rights of minority groups".
The Taliban on May 7 imposed some of the harshest restrictions on Afghanistan's women since they seized power, ordering them to cover fully in public, ideally with the traditional burqa. (Photo by Ahmad SAHEL ARMAN / AFP)
Since August 2021, working women in Afghanistan have been told to go home, girls' schools have been closed in most regions in the country, and a decision taken by the Taliban last May, imposing full cover on all women and recommending the traditional burqa as an ideal option.
