“This is a moment of pride for the whole nation”: thus begins the spokesman for the Taliban in the first press conference of the movement in Kabul, which began by reciting verses from the Koran. “After 20 years of fighting, we liberated Afghanistan and expelled foreigners,” Zabihullah Mujahid said in front of the cameras. “The Taliban have forgiven everyone, based on the orders of their leaders, and have no enmity towards anyone,” he said again. “We want to make sure that Afghanistan is no longer a battlefield, we will not threaten any country.” There will therefore be no revenge on the part of the Taliban against anyone, including former soldiers and those who have worked with foreign forces. “Nobody will search their homes, nobody will question them or hunt them down,” Mujahid said. “And the security of foreign embassies will be guaranteed.”
And again: «We are committed to women’s rights within the Sharia. Women will be able to have activities in different sectors and areas, such as education and the health system, they will work shoulder to shoulder with us. If the international community is concerned, we ensure that there will be no discrimination within our Sharia framework. Our women are Muslim and will therefore be happy to live within the framework of the Sharia. We will allow women to study and work within the framework of Sharia, they will be active in society but respecting the precepts of Islam. Women are part of society and we will guarantee their rights within the limits of Islam ”, she reiterated, then answering a question from journalists.
What is the difference between the Taliban of today and those who ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s? “It is an ideological question” – said the spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, replying to a foreign journalist. “Put like this the answer is: there are no differences. We were and are Muslims. The differences concern the experience acquired and will be positive: our policy will be complementary to that of the time ». As for the next political moves, the Mujahid, in answering the questions, explained: «We are working seriously to form the government. When it is ready we will announce it ». Asked about freedom of the press «We will be committed to the media within our cultural framework. The private media can continue their activity with some requests: Islam is a very important value “and the media” must not be in conflict. “Islam” must be considered for the development of programs. The media – he added – they must be impartial, they can criticize our work so we can improve “and” they must not go against national unity. “Furthermore,” with the Taliban in power, Afghanistan will no longer be the center of opium poppy cultivation or trafficking of drugs », he assured, anticipating the request to the international community for support to promote alternative crops.
“Educated women and no to the burqa”
The Taliban try to get out of isolation. They do this by talking about women and rights. Indeed, women in Afghanistan will have the right to work and receive education up to university level. To say this, to the microphones of Sky News, one of the spokesmen of the Taliban, Suhail Shaheen. Even after the Taliban seized power, “thousands of schools continue and will continue to function,” he added. Furthermore, the Taliban expect women to “wear hijab but not burqa” because “these are not our rules but Islamic rules” and all this concerns “their safety”.
The spokesperson then reassured people who worked with the previous Afghan government. Despite their recent past they will not suffer any punishment and “will keep their property, their honor and their life”. Shaheen was also asked about the images that portrayed thousands of Afghans pouring onto the runway of Kabul airport to leave the country. According to the spokesman, the Taliban are not responsible for what is happening and the people who want to leave Afghanistan do so “because they live in a poor country”.