Videos: Young Afghan women won't easily return to dark ages; defiant as Taliban bring back moral policing ministry

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, September 9

These young Afghan women aren’t the same as their counterparts 20 years ago and they won't silently live the life of dark ages or accept oppression by the Islamist militant group as the Taliban reintroduced a moral policing ministry in Afghanistan that once controlled women's lives.

Taliban announced an all-male government on Tuesday, three weeks after storming to power.

During the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule, girls could not attend school and women were banned from working or studying.

Women had to cover their faces and be accompanied by a male relative in public. Those who broke the rules were sometimes humiliated or beaten by the Taliban's moral police squads.

Since the Taliban seized the capital Kabul on August 15, young Afghan women have staged protests in major cities, demanding their rights after the militants barred many from leaving their homes for work and girls from attending school or university.

Breathtaking bravery, 2021’s Afghan women are protesting the Taliban regime on the day an all-male Gov’t is appointed…Women are standing their ground!
Their message: We aren’t the same women of 20 year ago; we WON’T be silently sent back to the dark ages. pic.twitter.com/MYk0nQk8Vh

— Rula Jebreal (@rulajebreal) September 7, 2021

This brave Afghan woman told me:
“I was broken when I first heard the Taliban took over but I told myself I shouldn’t give up my fight for my rights. I decided to take to the streets with about 40 or 50 other women & publicly challenge the Taliban. No fear, now we are united. pic.twitter.com/RAns89KmYX

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) September 7, 2021

Meanwhile, a video has gone viral in which women were locked by Taliban in a bank's basement to stop them from joining protests.

Protesting women are now becoming Taliban's worst nightmare. Taliban has locked these women inside a bank building to prevent them from going out and protesting again. Afghan women have no intention of giving up their fight. Will the world hear them? pic.twitter.com/VRhcNCV5FB

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) September 7, 2021

Also other videos on social media—which could not be verified—showed Taliban soldiers beating burqa-clad women with sticks.

Look at these Taliban savages beating Afghan women in Kabul today. Afghan women have shown great immense courage and resilience against Pakistani Islamist terrorism by looking Taliban in the eye and protesting for their rights. US/UK/NATO should be ashamed of abandoning Afghans. pic.twitter.com/JdbqJDxf4M

— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) September 7, 2021

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