'Liberal' Taliban Bans Women from Government: 'They Should Give Birth'
Terrorist group abandons claiming to be more 'woke' and considerate of women's rights
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The Taliban appears to have abandoned its new "woke" direction after announcing that women are banned from serving in Afghanistan's government because "they should give birth."
The terrorist group has been attempting to reshape itself as "more liberal" in the eyes of the critical Western media and claimed that women will have "some" rights under their leadership.
However, a Taliban spokesman declared Thursday that women will never take up a ministerial position in government.
He argued that female ministers would be a burden for the Taliban and said women should instead stay indoors and "give birth."
Spokesman Sayed Zekrullah Hashimi declared in an interview with Afghan outlet TOLO News that the Taliban does "not consider women to be half of the society."
He insisted that allowing a woman to become a government minister would be to "put something on her neck that she cannot carry."
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The video shows a conversation between Hashimi and a TOLO News reporter in which Hashimi declares that the "women protesting in the streets - they are not the women of Afghanistan."
"The women of Afghanistan are those who give birth to the people of Afghanistan, educates them on Islamic ethics."
WATCH:
#Taliban explaining why women should not part of government and why should they are for only producing babies. pic.twitter.com/ud07DjTPny
— Defence Detectives 🇮🇳 (@defenceDetectiv) September 10, 2021
It comes amid reports that the Taliban may hold the official inauguration of their new government on 9/11 to "troll" the US as Americans prepare to commemorate the 20-year anniversary of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center.
The words of Hashimi do nothing to dispel the assumptions that the Taliban has not altered their hardline stance which saw them impose a brutally strict interpretation of Islamic law during their rule in Afghanistan in the 1990s.
The group has tried to distance itself from the policies of the old regime, but widespread reports of the Taliban beating protestors, administering medieval punishments on the streets, and introducing a ban on all women playing sport has shown a disconnect between the group's PR offensive and their true intentions.
"A woman can't be a minister, it is like you put something on her neck that she can't carry," said Hashimi.
"It is not necessary for women to be in the cabinet - they should give birth.
"Women protesters can't represent all women in Afghanistan."
The interviewer interjected to declare: "Women are half of the society."
But Hashimi dismissed the notion immediately: "But we do not consider them half.
"What kind of half?'
"The women protesting in the streets, they do not represent the women of Afghanistan.
"The women of Afghanistan are those who give birth to the people of Afghanistan, educates them on Islamic ethics."
Taliban fighters faced female-led protests on Wednesday after they announced an all-male interim government with no representation for women and ethnic minority groups on Tuesday, and subsequently banned women from taking part in any sport.
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Furious protesters took to the streets of the capital in response to the decision and pictures quickly emerged showing female demonstrators arguing with Taliban fighters as one woman stared down an M-16 rifle pointed at her face.
Footage taken on a mobile phone shows a woman in an underground car park, panning around to reveal a crowd of women and some children gathered in the same space.
Miraqa Popal, the head of news at Afghanistan's Tolo News outlet, shared the clip on Twitter, writing that some eyewitnesses said the women were held in Kabul's Azizi Bank "to prevent them from joining protesters."
Demonstrators also chanted anti-Pakistan slogans, denouncing the "intrusion" of the country into Afghan domestic affairs.
Pakistan has been accused of providing air support to the Taliban.
Taliban fighters fired gunshots into the air to disperse protesters and reportedly made several arrests.
