“We are going to allow women to work and study. We have got frameworks, of course. Women are going to be very active in the society but within the framework of Islam,” Zabihullah Mujahid, the group’s spokesman, said at a press conference in Kabul on Tuesday.
Mujahid, who had been a shadowy figure for years, said that “there will be no discrimination against women” adding that “they are going to work shoulder to shoulder with us.”
Pressed on how the new Taliban government will differ from the previous one, Mujahid said that the group has evolved and will not take the same actions they did in the past.
“There will be a difference when it comes to the actions we are going to take” compared with 20 years ago, he said.
“We are committed to the media within our cultural frameworks. Private media can continue to be free and independent. They can continue their activities,” he said.
He also said the group has no plans to enter the homes of people or carry out retaliatory attacks on anyone who served in the previous governments, worked with foreigners or were part of the Afghan National Security Forces.
There have been unconfirmed reports of Taliban fighters entering the homes of Kabul residents, but Mujahid said those were impostors who should be turned over to the Taliban and face appropriate punishment
In the past 20 years Saudi Arabia and Iran have (lightly) loosened restrictions on women – is it so far fetched to believe that another fundamentalist Muslim group could do the same?
Yes, because at least in the case of Iran and Saudi Arabia there has been a greater deal of communication with the rest of the world and a longer period of stability and material improvement. Actually I wouldn’t even really say that for Saudi Arabia, and Iran was always better than the Taliban in that regard. This has not been allowed to happen in Afghanistan and particularly for the Taliban. There is nothing exaggerated about the Taliban, it is very hard to exaggerate something like that. Just ask the refugees leaving the place in droves trying to get to Turkey and Europe. We’ve had a lot of them here and I’m sure we’ll have more now.
As a practical matter yes, I think there will be some improvement compared to the 90s, but I don’t believe they have changed in their beliefs.
