The women in the new government in Afghanistan? “No, it is not necessary”, explained a spokesman for the Taliban today during an interview by Tolo News broadcaster. “A woman cannot be a minister” because “her job is to give birth,” he said.
And why, insisted the journalist Natiq Malikzada, “aren’t women representatives of society?”. “The four women who are protesting are not representative of women in Afghanistan”, replied the Taliban spokesman, because “Afghan women are the ones who give birth for the Afghan people. And they must be educated according to Islamic ethics “. He continued that leading a ministry would be like “giving a woman a burden she cannot bear”.
No Sports for Afghan women too
Taliban says no to sports for women in Taliban-led Afghanistan because “it is not necessary”; and because during sports”, they could discover the face and the body “. This is how the deputy head of the Taliban cultural commission, Ahmadullah Wasiq, ‘justified’ to the Australian broadcaster SBS on 18th September on why Afghan women will no longer be able to play sports. Not even on the women’s cricket team.
“I don’t think women will be allowed to play cricket because it is not necessary for women to play cricket,” Wasiq said. “In cricket, they may face a situation where their face and body will not be covered. Islam does not allow women to be seen like this. “We are in the” media age – he continued -, there will be photos and videos. And then people will look at them. Islam and the Islamic Emirate will not allow women to play cricket or to practice a type of sport in which they are exhibited,” he said.
Turning back the clock on women’s rights
During the Taliban’s first press conference after taking over Afghanistan, the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had assured the Afghan women that their rights would be respected “within the framework of Islamic law.” He said that women would have the right to education and work.