KABUL — Hundreds of religious leaders and “people of
influence” from around Afghanistan have been summoned to the capital to attend
a three-day grand council in support of the country’s
Taliban rule.
اضافة اعلان
Officials are providing scant details of the
men-only meeting starting Wednesday, a week after a powerful earthquake struck
the east of the country killing over 1,000 people and leaving tens of thousands
homeless.
A Taliban source told AFP that criticism of the
regime would be allowed and thorny issues such as the education of girls, which
has divided opinion in the movement, would be discussed.
“The meeting will seek views of scholars on the
performance of the Islamic emirate,” a Taliban source told AFP, referring to
the group’s name for the country.
“The participants will be allowed to point out
anything which has dented (Afghanistan’s) image — they can even make
complaints.”
The meeting is described locally as a “jirga”, a
traditional gathering of influential people that discuss problems and settle
differences by consensus.
Even before the quake, the Taliban were struggling
to administer a country that had long been in the grip of economic malaise,
utterly dependent on foreign aid that dried up with the overthrow of the
Western-backed government in August.
Taliban officials insist their rule is nationally
popular, but they have re-introduced a harsh version of Islam that
characterized their first stint in power — specifically clamping down on the
rights of women.
Barred from education
Secondary school girls are
barred from education, while women have been dismissed from government jobs,
forbidden from travelling alone, and ordered to dress in clothing that covers
everything but their faces.
“As per my information, the participants of the
meeting will hold a detailed discussion on school education,” the Taliban
source said.
A letter from the prime minister’s office seen by
AFP said each district in Afghanistan should provide three delegates to the
council.
It said they must have a good religious education,
credentials for jihad — fighting for Islam — and a reputation in their
respective fields.
“Two of them will be religious scholars and the
other a person of influence,” the letter said.
Afghanistan has over 400 administrative districts,
meaning the gathering will be the biggest leadership collective since the
Taliban returned to power in August last year.
The
Afghan Women’s Peace and Freedom Organization
said the male-only gathering could not be representative.
“There should be Afghan women,” official Halima
Nasiri told AFP after a press conference by the group.
“If there are no Afghan women in the loya jirga
(grand gathering), then no doubt, their decisions would be unjust and
unacceptable for Afghan women and girls.”
Afghan media is abuzz with speculation that Taliban
supreme leader
Hibatullah Akhundzada — who has not been filmed or photographed
in public since the group returned to power — may attend the gathering.
Only a handful of unverified audio recordings of his
speeches have been released since August from Kandahar, the Taliban’s
birthplace and spiritual heart.
The Taliban have
become increasingly sensitive to criticism and on Tuesday government spokesman
Bilal Karimi dismissed as “false information and propaganda” a Gallup global
survey that said Afghans were the saddest people in the world, with the least
enjoyment from life.
“A majority of Afghans feel safe and happy since the
Taliban takeover,” he tweeted.
Gallup said the country’s score on the Positive
Experience Index was not only a new low for Afghanistan, but also a new low for
any country surveyed over the past 16 years.
“The percentage of Afghans who said they felt
enjoyment, smiled or laughed, learned something interesting, or felt
well-rested the previous day all dropped to new record lows,” it said.
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