Afghan women stage protest in Kabul against Taliban policies

A Taliban fighter watches as Afghan women hold placards during a demonstration demanding better rights for women in front of the former Ministry of Women Affairs in Kabul. Pic/AFP

A number of Afghan women staged a protest in Kabul against Taliban policies, demanding equal rights to education and work, according to a media report.

On September 19, the protest took place in response to the closure of the former government's Ministry of Women Affairs on September 17, said the Khaama News report. The Taliban was replaced with the Ministry of Guidance and Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

The protesters chanted slogans like "exclusion of women in exclusion of humans", "our freedom of speech is the conclusion of our potency" and "education, work, and freedom are ways towards development". In regards to the closure of the Ministry, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said on September 19 that they will establish for a potent and effective administration under the Sharia law for women, adding that there was no need of giving it the name of a Ministry or sub-division of the Ministry.

In a recent interview, the spokesman had said that the former Ministry did nothing for the betterment of the lives of Afghan women. Mujahid added that despite the existence of the Ministry, the women in rural areas were not given their basic rights.

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