The fourth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power saw 10,000 people gather to celebrate – but on leader Hibatullah Akhundzada’s orders, only men were invited
Afghan women were completely excluded from the fourth-anniversary celebrations of the Taliban’s return to power.
Around 10,000 men congregated in Kabul as Defence Ministry helicopters dispersed flowers over the spectators. Three out of six designated “flower shower” sites were inaccessible to women, following a ban on their entry to parks and leisure areas since November 2022.
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021 amid the withdrawal of US and NATO forces after twenty years of conflict. They have since enforced their version of Sharia law, introducing severe limitations on the lives of women and girls, guided by decrees from their leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. It comes after Donald Trump’s mental state ‘clear to see’ as lawmakers urged to ‘act now’
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The anniversary event on Friday, which included addresses from prominent Cabinet figures, was exclusively male. An anticipated outdoor sports display featuring Afghan athletes was cancelled, reports state.
The Taliban’s treatment of women and girls has drawn international criticism from rights organisations, foreign governments, and the United Nations, with bans on education past sixth grade, numerous employment opportunities, and most public venues.
The United Afghan Women’s Movement for Freedom held an indoor demonstration on Friday in Takhar province, northeast Afghanistan, denouncing Taliban governance. “This day marked the beginning of a black domination that excluded women from work, education, and social life,” declared the movement.
“We, the protesting women, remember this day not as a memory, but as an open wound of history, a wound that has not yet healed. The fall of Afghanistan was not the fall of our will. We stand, even in the darkness.”
An indoor protest also took place in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Afghan women displayed placards with messages such as “Forgiving the Taliban is an act of enmity against humanity” and “August 15th is a dark day.”
In the images, the women were fully veiled, revealing only their eyes. Earlier, the Taliban leader issued a stern warning that God would punish Afghans who did not appreciate Islamic governance in the country, as per a statement released.
Akhundzada, who rarely makes public appearances, declared in his statement that Afghans had faced challenges and made sacrifices for nearly half a century to ensure the establishment of Islamic law, or Sharia, which he claimed protected people from “corruption, oppression, usurpation, drugs, theft, robbery, and plunder.
“These are great divine blessings that our people should not forget and, during the commemoration of Victory Day, express great gratitude to Allah Almighty so that the blessings will increase,” Akhundzada stated, with his remarks being circulated on social platform X.
“If, against God’s will, we fail to express gratitude for blessings and are ungrateful for them, we will be subjected to the severe punishment of Allah Almighty,” he declared. Cabinet members took turns to extol the administration’s successes and underscored strides in diplomacy.
Among those who addressed the gathering were Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani. During a Cabinet assembly on Wednesday in Kandahar, Akhundzada emphasised that the Taliban government’s stability hinged on the pursuit of religious knowledge.
He called for the enhancement of religious enlightenment, the deterrence of immoral behaviour, the safeguarding of citizens from detrimental ideologies, and the education of Afghans on matters of faith and belief, as per a statement disseminated by government spokesperson, Hamdullah Fitrat.
Akhundzada has directed the Kabul Municipality to erect additional mosques, with an overarching emphasis on identifying ways to “further consolidate and fortify” the Islamic government, Fitrat reported.
This year’s anniversary observances have been notably subdued compared to the previous year when the Taliban organised a military procession at a former U.S. airbase, which provoked ire from President Donald Trump due to the display of forsaken American equipment.
Moreover, the nation is currently ensnared in a humanitarian crisis exacerbated by climate change, the expulsion of millions of Afghans from Iran and Pakistan, and a significant reduction in aid funding.