Khalid Hanafi: World Does Not Support Taliban’s Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan
Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban’s Minister for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, has claimed that the international community does not wish for the continuation of the Taliban’s so-called “Islamic system” in Afghanistan. At the same time, he urged the people of the country to support this regime.
Hanafi, regarded as a close ally of Mullah Hebtullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, stated that the people of Afghanistan are obligated to accept this system. He asserted that there is no difference between the “nation,” the “Islamic Emirate,” and the “system,” adding that these three concepts are identical in the eyes of the Taliban.
These remarks come as the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan without public elections or any electoral process. Their return followed years of war and violence and was the result of the Doha Agreement with the United States, a deal that did not give the Afghan people a decisive role in their political future.
Nearly four and a half years into their renewed rule, the Taliban government continues to suffer from broad international isolation, with only Russia officially recognizing it. The Taliban’s strict and extreme interpretations of Islamic Sharia law, widespread human rights violations, severe restrictions on women, and exclusion of people from political participation remain key factors behind the global community’s distrust and widespread domestic criticism of the Taliban administration.
