The greeting extended by the Taliban to women on International women’s day has infuriated Islamists on Twitter. Many have taken to the social networking site to call out the hardline Islamist regime “for not being Islamic enough” after it issued a statement on Women’s Day, claiming it is committed to addressing the plight of Afghan women.
Earlier in the day, the Taliban government in Afghanistan, which is known for institutionalising large-scale gender-based discrimination and violence against women, wished all the Afghan women on International Women’s Day.
Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Tweeted on International Women’s Day (IWD), which is celebrated globally on March 8 every year. “May the #8thMarch #InternationalWomensDay be auspicious for all women,” Tweeted MoFA spokesperson, IEA.
No sooner did the MoFA spokesperson share the statement issued by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, enraged Islamists started slamming the Taliban government. A Twitter user going by the handle @HF32567789 reminded the Talibanis that they would never be able to make the ‘kuffars happy’ so they should not worry much about it. The Twitter user chastised the Islamist group for publishing the “extremely disappointing statement,” and urged them to “treat women as Islam demands and do not celebrate or refer to such western traditions and days!”
Twitter user Umar Rumi called the Taliban’s stance to extend greetings to Afghan women on International Women’s Day “absolutely cringe”.
Calling the event a ‘communist feminist celebration’, Twitter user wrote, “Please be more careful and aware before jumping on any apparently neutral “International day” and study its origins, history, background and meaning. This was (and is) a communist feminist celebration, getting the Emirate involved is absolutely cringe.”
Another Twitter user, @MishkatMasabih, compared Afghanistan’s present Taliban regime to the old ‘taghut government.’
What’s the difference between the previous taghut government and this current taghut government? All tawaghit. https://t.co/clqw5sBEHl
— Mishkat Al-Masabih (@MishkatMasabih) March 8, 2022
Twitter user @MF20030 rebuked the Taliban government for “celebrating this shit”.
One Noor Ahmed urged the Taliban government to delete the post immediately.
On March 8, on the occasion of International women’s day, the Taliban wished that this day “be auspicious for all women”. In a statement issued, the hardline Islamist group wrote, “Protracted war in Afghanistan has been extremely detrimental for women. IEA (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) is committed to addressing the plight of Afghan women and providing facilities for an honourable and beneficial life in the light of the noble religion of Islam and our accepted traditions”.
Given the Taliban’s long history of gynophobic misogyny, the statement is quite ironic. In the seven months since the Taliban took control, Afghan women’s long-held worries have become a terrible daily reality. The Taliban, in its 7 months of ruling, has closed most girls’ secondary schools, created barriers to women and girls pursuing higher education, banned co-education terming it as the ‘root of all evils in society’, banned music and the employment of female employees in the local radio stations, banned women from most paid employment, abolished the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, restricted women’s movement, including preventing them from leaving the country alone, dismantled Afghanistan’s system that provided protection from gender-based violence, and created barriers to women and girls accessing health care.
