Now any journalist living in Afghanistan must depend on the Taliban for security. As a result, many of the stories the world reads about Taliban-controlled Afghanistan are concoctions, said Masood Hussaini, a veteran journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner and human rights campaigner. Masood criticized the current administration, saying the economic situation in Afghanistan was at its lowest level ever. Human rights, religious freedom and fundamental human beings also demand immediate attention. In the current horrific event of natural disasters like earthquakes, he said, foreign aid pouring into Afghanistan disappears into the hands of the Taliban, with no aid reaching the ground level. According to him, the system is completely opaque, corrupt and devoid of any real desire to help poor Afghans.
He also condemned the recent suicide attacks on the Hazara minority and terrorist attacks on Afghanistan’s last remaining Sikh population. He commented on a recent incident in which a woman was killed by the Taliban just for their own pleasure. He ended by saying that there is no longer any accountability in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime.
‘Has Afghanistan made a deal with the Taliban?’ Participating in a webinar titled Red Lantern organized by Analytica, Roya Mousavi stressed that the Taliban currently lacks a legal framework. They are still not accepted in the global community. However, some countries have begun to coordinate with the Taliban and have opened diplomatic offices there. China has been one of these countries.
She elaborated on the day-to-day hardships experienced by Afghan women, explaining that Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is a male-dominated society in which women are given little space. Women are not allowed to read or walk freely, and the law and order situation is rapidly deteriorating as many individuals, including former Afghanistan army soldiers, have recently been tortured by the Taliban.
Roya Mousavi, a former spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Afghanistan, further remarked that despite the Taliban’s claim that they engage in “positive dialogue”, there is hardly anything positive about their vague administration. According to him, Afghanistan is in serious trouble under Taliban rule.