Return of Taliban: Afghan Women, Girls Picked up From Doorsteps in Kabul

Kabul: Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, people have been very scared for their safety and future in the country. Especially women have been the ones living under constant fear of what might happen to them. Like last time, the Taliban will stop girls from going to school and women from going to their jobs. Many videos and reports were shared in the past few weeks that give us an insight into the women’s plight in Afghanistan.

The last time that Afghanistan was under Taliban rule was in 1996-2001. During that time, the rules were really strict and girls were not allowed to go to school. Women did not have the right to education. Moreover, it was compulsory to wear a full burqa in public. There were some really strict laws in place at that time. Even now these stories came forward which were denied by the Taliban.

Also Read: Desperate Afghan Women Throw Children Over Barbed Wires at Kabul Airport

Last week during a news conference, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that they do not want any issues. They respect women’s rights. Women are safe here and do not have to worry about anything. Even those who opposed them and resisted them will be forgiven. But no one actually knows the truth. Women are sharing anecdotes of what they are going through now in their daily lives.

Hollie McKay on Plight of Afghan Women

Recently a journalist was forced to flee from Afghanistan. She later narrated the entire story of what the country’s women are going through. Hollie McKay, writing in The Dallas Morning News shared that the Taliban have been horrible to the women. They are going from house to house and picking up women who are above 15 years of age, for marriage.

“I got permission from the Taliban to leave Mazar-e-Sharif, but my Afghan friends remain behind,” wrote the journalist with a heavy heart scared of what might happen to the people she knows.

McKay further recalled a horrific story that was shared to her some time ago by another Afghan woman, Fariha Easer. The journalist shared how the Taliban told everyone that they are the saviours. “guards of Islam, the liberators of the West.” “They asked one father to give over his daughters as wives. They said one of the Taliban is a mullah, and they must make an engagement for him.”

Only the request, as told to Fariha, was a rhetorical one. There was no choice. The 21-year-old was taken away in the dead of night. "After the marriage, they took the young woman away. But the father found out after three days that it was not only the Taliban (mullah) who married her and had sex with her, she was being raped by four others every night,” Fariha shared.  

“The father went to the district governor and was told there was nothing he could do. Whatever could be done, he must do himself." In a slim silver lining to a drastically sad tragedy, the father fled with all his daughters into hiding, reported McKay in The Dallas Morning News.

When all this has happened and is happening once again, how can the women sit in peace? Even if they want to leave the country, how will it be possible for every Afghan citizen to flee?