Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi says that unless the education system is improved, claiming to have an independent and prosperous country is impossible.
The Deputy Prime Minister in a gathering at Kabul University said that the sole responsibility of a Mufti (religious scholar) is not forbidding. When a Mufti forbids something, he should introduce alternatives as well, he said.
“We will not be able to overcome the existing situation unless we realize the fact that the country’s education system needs immediate improvement,” Hanafi said.
This senior Taliban member called on scholars of Afghanistan and the Muslim world to introduce enlightenment in the country, and help the ordinary people overcome the existing challenges.
This comes as the Taliban authorities have issued certain gender-based decrees barring Afghan women from the right to education, work, or appear in public places – a matter over which the Taliban leadership does not agree on each other.
Taliban’s supreme leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada who has the support of the Taliban circle in Kandahar opposes the idea of girls’ education, and he has been able to implement his decisions over the cabinet in Kabul.
Some senior leaders of the Taliban have criticized the latest decisions, but have not been able to convince the supreme leader to revoke his decisions.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a senior spokesman for the Taliban said at a session at Kabul University on Sunday that criticism needs to be done privately, however, he also did not name anyone.
While addressing a religious gathering in Khost on Saturday, Sirajuddin Haqqani said he is frustrated with the situation, and without actually naming anyone, he spoke about the “monopolization of power” and “defaming the system” and “challenging it” and said the situation is unacceptable.
The criticisms among the Taliban members have increased over the latest decrees banning women and girls from getting a university education and working for NGOs in the recent past. Meanwhile, the international community and humanitarian aid organizations have repeatedly called on the ruling regime to remove the restrictions, however, nothing has changed thus far.
