Taliban 2.0 Pledges To Respect Women's Right Within Islamic Framework, Says Afghan Women Will ‘Be Happy’ Living Under Sharia Law

In an outreach aimed at assuaging the fears of local population and reassuring world powers, Taliban on Tuesday (Aug 17) pledged to protect women's rights within the framework of Islamic law, grant amnesty those who fought them and ensure Afghanistan does not become an epicentre of Islamic terror,

“Our women are Muslim, they will also be happy to be living within our framework of Sharia,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said while addressing a press conference Tuesday in Kabul,

Mujahid promised that the rights of women will be recognized and respected under Taliban reign, insisting that nobody should be “worried about our norms and principles.”

Women could work and study and “will be very active in society but within the framework of Islam,” Mujahid promised.

During their previous reign from 1996 to 2001, Taliban ruled strictly in accordance with Islamic laws. The Islamic government banned women from working, attending school, and leaving the home without a burqa and male escort.

Mujahid also reiterated that the Taliban have offered full amnesty to Afghans who worked for the U.S. and the Western-backed government, saying “nobody will go to their doors to ask why they helped.” He said private media should “remain independent" but that journalists “should not work against national values.”

“The Islamic Emirate – after the freedom of this nation – is not going to revenge anybody, we do not have any grudges against anybody….We know that we have been undergoing very challenging periods and crises, a lot of mistakes were made that were in the advantage of the occupiers,” Mujahid added.