News from Afghanistan rarely reaches the world, but what we do learn is extremely disturbing. In early June, the Taliban detained at least 30 women in the city of Herat for violating dress codes, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has warned.
"A Symbol of the Suffering of Millions of Afghan Women"
The arrests have sparked protests in the region, which is mainly populated by the Shiite minority. Violence and shootings of protesters by the authorities followed, killing at least two people, including a child.
Two women from the Afghan women's movement, who wished to remain anonymous, spoke to DW about the repression they have been subjected to. "Every arrest of a woman in Herat today is a symbol of the suffering of millions of Afghan women who live under the sign of gender apartheid. Women's rights are our rights. Not the Taliban's!", one of them said.
The other said that the Taliban incriminate the most basic rights - including how to dress. The protests in Herat are a symbol of resistance: "The protests demonstrate the resistance of the Afghan people and Afghan women," Nigara Mirdad, a former Afghan diplomat and women's rights activist, told DW. She noted that the protests also show the “solidarity of Afghan men” against the Taliban’s violent narrative.
The Taliban are not invincible
August will mark five years since the Taliban returned to power. Their first rule from 1996-2001 also lasted five years before the US and its allies intervened after 9/11. Although the Taliban’s rule now seems unshakable after crushing the opposition and the media, the anniversary is a reminder that their regime was overthrown once.
According to Mohammad Osman Tariq, Afghanistan’s former deputy education minister, the crackdown on women and the protests is not so much religiously motivated as it is about maintaining power. "It is normal for the Taliban to fear for the sustainability of their rule," Tariq told DW. "They understand that ultimately this is an oppressive regime that will collapse." That is why the government wants to block the possibility of protests and even ban smartphones.
So that the world doesn't see what is happening
Videos posted on social media show Taliban representatives destroying their mobile phones after an order was issued for government officials to stop using them. Many Afghans fear that the ban will be imposed on the entire population. In a country where independent journalism is being crushed, phones remain the only weapon for capturing abuses and distributing footage of protests.
According to former Afghan MP Shinkai Karokail, the repression is also the result of government failures. “Unfortunately, the Taliban regime failed to meet the needs of the people, provide public services or create job opportunities“, the activist told DW. “Accordingly, they now fear an uprising against them.“
The world is increasingly turning a blind eye to events in Afghanistan
“According to the Taliban, people must be harassed and oppressed in various ways so that they do not raise their voices. For them, women are an easy target against which to use their power to silence them“, says Karokail. Since returning to power, the Taliban have issued a series of decrees restricting women’s rights. Girls have been banned from education beyond the sixth grade, many of the opportunities for women to work have been eliminated, public spaces have been made inaccessible to them, and regulations on dress and behavior outside the home have been severely affected.
The fact that the Taliban are now subject to far less international pressure than they were in 2021, when they returned to power, has had a negative impact. Russia has officially recognized their rule, and other nations maintain minimal, pragmatic relations.
According to Nigara Mirdad, the world’s focus has shifted to other problems and crises, which has allowed the Taliban to tighten their grip on power around the people. For many in the country, this is a huge problem, as expressing public discontent is dangerous. The events in Herat reveal the consequences of all this - the Taliban tighten their grip while the world turns a blind eye. But the protests also show that the people of the country do not consider this control legitimate.
Author: Waslat Hasrat-Nazimi