Afghanistan’s Taliban Rulers Replaced The Women’s Ministry
AFGHANISTAN: Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have replaced the women’s ministry with an all-male “vice and virtue ministry” tasked with enforcing the group’s rigid interpretation of Islam.
The move Saturday was the latest to harken back to the group’s harsh 1990s rule that imposed deep restrictions on women. The Taliban inside the new ministry said they had not been informed about where or if a new women’s ministry was being planned.
Also on Saturday, staff from the World Bank’s USD 100 million Women’s Economic Empowerment and Rural Development Program were escorted off the grounds. A programme member, Sharif Akhtar, who was escorted out with his staff, was at a loss to explain how or if the program could continue.
In the last 20 years Afghan women have fought for and gained a number of basic rights, but there are now fears that progress is being upended by the Taliban’s new all-male interim government.
The BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, in Kabul, says that while Taliban leaders have made promises that they understand Afghanistan has changed – and that so have they – there seems to be a growing mismatch between promises and policies.
Human rights groups have previously criticised the virtue and vice ministry for silencing dissent, violently enforcing restrictions on citizens – especially women and girls – and spreading fear and distrust throughout communities.
But Taliban members say the institution is important: “The main purpose is to serve Islam. Therefore, it is compulsory to have [a] Ministry of Vice and Virtue,” a Taliban member, Mohammad Yousuf, told the New York Post.
(With Inputs From Agencies)