In yet another indicator that the Taliban is anything but “moderate”, the fundamentalist group had recently announced from a Kabul mosque that those who are found stealing and indulging in theft will have their hands chopped as per the Sharia Law of Islam.
Journalist Aditya Raj Kaul took to Twitter to inform about the announcement by the Taliban through a Kabul mosque, wherein it said that people who are caught red-handed stealing or in a case of theft, their hands would be cut as per the law defined in the Islamic Sharia.
Taliban has just announced from a Kabul mosque that those people who will be found stealing or caught in a case of theft, their hands would be cut as per the Sharia Law of Islam. This is Taliban 2.0.
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) September 3, 2021
The Islamic Sharia Law ordains Muslims to “cut off the hands” of the perpetrator who is found to have committed a theft. Quran 5:38 says perpetrators of theft and robbery be punished by amputation of their hands. This particular punishment was the order of the day in Taliban-era Afghanistan in the late 90s, demonstrating that the group’s recent claims of being moderate in conduct were nothing more than lip-service, aimed at pacifying internal resistance and seeking international legitimacy.
The hard-line interpretation of Islam had been a hallmark of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 when inhuman and brutal treatment as a part of the Islamic jurisprudence was imposed on the residents of the country. The Taliban rule came to an abrupt end after the US-led NATO forces stormed the country in the wake of the twin-tower attacks and obliterated the fundamentalist group in December 2001.
During its rule, the punishment inflicted by the Taliban included the public execution of murderers, amputation of hands and legs of robbers and thieves, and stoning and lashing of adulterers. The Taliban had then repurposed the National Sports Stadium in Kabul for executing people and inflicting other forms of punishment for people it deemed criminals every Friday.
Taliban takes over Afghanistan
After US president Joe Biden announced he would honour the withdrawal agreement signed by his predecessor Donald Trump, the Taliban launch a swift offensive, swallowing district after district to take control of the country. On August 15, it stormed Kabul and toppled the US-backed Ashraf Ghani government in a lightning move, effectively taking over Afghanistan. The offensive resulted in people trying to flee the country, including women who feared a return of 1990s-type Taliban rule where they had to stay at home, entertainment was banned, and public executions as punishments were common.
Since the Taliban took over, though they promised a moderate outlook, universal amnesty, and granting some rights to women under strict Sharia law. However, there have been reports emanating from Afghanistan of those promises being not honoured by the Taliban. Women have been told to wear a burqa. Female employees were told to leave business premises, including radio stations. A woman was killed for not wearing a burqa, while another was reportedly killed as she did not cook well. Reports also suggested that the Taliban has been conducting door-to-door search operations hunting their adversaries, and even girls and women between the age of 12 to 45 to use them as sex slaves.
