UN warns of escalating attacks on minorities and women Under Taliban control
The world media has mostly ignored the human rights situation in Afghanistan in the midst of several other global problems. According to a UN assessment, the Taliban-run government continues to violate the rights of millions of people.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which is tasked with aiding the Afghan people, keeps an eye on the country’s human rights situation and often reports on it. In its most recent report on the state of human rights in Afghanistan, UNAMA noted the increasing persecution of the Ismaili community in addition to instances of public floggings and gender-based violence.
How are the Taliban targeting the Ismaili minority?
Although Sunni Islam is the predominant religion in Afghanistan, Ismailism is a subset of Shia Islam. The majority of the Ismaili population resides in northern regions like Baghlan and Badakhshan. At least fifty instances of Ismaili community members being coerced into converting to Sunni Islam have occurred in the past. Those who didn’t comply faced threats of murder, coercion, and physical attacks.
There was reportedly little tolerance for the Ismaili minority in Afghanistan even prior to the Taliban’s comeback, but the democratic system at least upheld their civil rights. Tolerance had been progressively declining under the Taliban. Only one religion is regarded as valid under Taliban rule. Violence against religious minorities is encouraged by their rejection of everything that differs from their vision of Islam.
Abdullah Ahmadi, an Afghan human rights campaigner, said that pressure on one of the country’s few surviving religious minorities was growing. “Children from the Ismaili community are being compelled to attend Sunni-run religious schools, according to many allegations we have received. Their families must pay hefty fines if they don’t comply or don’t show up for class on a regular basis,” he added.
Ahmadi bemoaned the lack of a firm response from the international community to his nation’s human rights abuses. He demanded that Taliban leaders face specific consequences, stating that they “must be held accountable.”
Why was the Nowruz celebration declared un-Islamic?
Although Afghanistan was once a major hub for religious variety, today, there are almost no remaining members of non-Muslim groups. In September 2021, the Jewish community’s final members departed the nation. The Christians who remain there usually keep their religious activities to themselves. Additionally, there is still persecution against the Hazaras, another ethnic group in Afghanistan that is primarily Shiite.
Nowruz, which signifies the start of spring and a new year, is one of the holidays and ceremonies that the Taliban have outlawed and only accept one interpretation of Islam. They proclaimed the ceremony to be “un-Islamic” and advised Afghans not to celebrate it.
How far have Afghan women’s rights regressed?
All women’s circumstances are deteriorating as well, indicating that half of society is systematically oppressed. In the UNAMA report, it is stated that females are still “barred from participating in education beyond grade six” and that “no announcement made by the de facto authorities regarding the reopening of high schools and universities to girls and women.”
The Taliban have seized a number of rickshaws in the western city of Herat and advised drivers not to carry women without a “mahram,” or close male relative.
