A Taliban fighter walks past a beauty saloon with images of women defaced using spray paint in Shar-e-Naw in Kabul on August 18, 2021. (AFP) |
Just one day after Kabul fell, Taliban 2.0 along with their American and Pakistani sponsors reassured us that the fresh version of the Islamist terrorist group was ‘new and improved.’ Then we witnessed the work of the barbarians.
After Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that his government would “honour women’s rights, within Islamic law,” Taliban fighters shot and killed a woman for not wearing a burqa.
A photo emerged of a woman in Takhar province lying in a pool of blood, with loved ones crouched around her, after she was killed by insurgents for being in public without a head covering.
For the Biden and Kamala Harris types of this world, beholden to the hijab-promoting ‘Squad’ in the U.S. Congress and among the guilt-ridden Feminists of the #MeToo world, this “Islamic Sharia 101" lesson may yet escape their attention.
A woman lies in a pool of blood moments after being shot by the Taliban for not wearing a burqa. |
Behind the cause of the calamity in Afghanistan, one name stands out as one gambled the lives of tens of million while locked inside expensive conference halls of Doha in Qatar (Iran’s closest ally in the region).
Experts on Afghan affairs in India believe that the biggest ‘credit’ for this plight of Afghanistan and the loss of the country to the Taliban goes to the shadowy American Afghan diplomat, Zalmay Khalilzad, better known for his pro-Pakistan policies.
As early as March 2019, the American news outlet Politico ran a story with the sub-heading: “Under peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Administration seems poised to give away everything America has fought for in Afghanistan since 9/11.”
An example of this was recently seen in April 2021. At a time when the Taliban were rampaging in Afghanistan through Pakistan’s support, Khalilzad defended Pakistan during a hearing at the US Senate’s Committee on International Relations, denying Pakistan’s role in supporting the Taliban.
Zalmay Khalilzad meets with the head of the Taliban’s political office, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in Doha, Qatar, in September 2020. |
Khalilzad assured the Senate committee that the Pakistani leadership has given assurances that it does not support the Taliban and stressed, “I think Pakistan understands the implications of the civil war in Afghanistan.”
Much has been written on the ‘Fall of Kabul’ and the ‘Victory of Islam’ over ‘non-believers’ such as the West and India, and celebrations have broken out among India’s Muslim community as well as Pakistan’s. However, these celebrations of Islam’s victory over the ‘kufaar’ is not restricted to jihadis and their admirers in South Asia.
Sam Westrop of the Middle East Forum has listed major Muslim figures in the West who have expressed their joy at the Taliban victory in Kabul.
Among them is Yasir Nadeem Al Wajidi, Islamic cleric in the U.S., director of Darul Uloom Online, and lead teacher of the Institute of Islamic Education Elgin IL. He tweeted: “Congratulations to #Taliban and the people of Afghanistan on the rebirth of the Islamic Emirate! Allah has once again given you the opportunity to present to the world the Islamic system based on justice and fairness. Your blessed entry into #Kabul is reminiscent of the Prophetic era.”
Kamil Ahmad, a Canadian Islamic cleric who lectures at TV channels Peace TV and Huda TV, and teaches at the Islamic Online University, said: “Whether you like the #IslamicEmirateOfAfghanistan (aka #Taliban) or not, they are now in power. As long as their mandate is to rule by Islam and not man-made ideologies and systems of governance, they should be supported.”
I asked the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) for its statement on the Taliban takeover of Kabul, since the Canadian Muslim community has a large Afghan population, but I received no response. There were other Canadian Islamic groups that did not release with their position on the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, I sat on numerous Indian TV networks discussing Afghanistan and was shocked to see the glee and joy of Pakistanis and Indian Muslims celebrating the Taliban victory.
On the approaching 20th anniversary of 9/11 — while Joe Biden may not realize — the forces of Islamism will be celebrating the deaths in the United States, wherever proponents of Islamism reside, be it in Kabul, Karachi or Kashmir.
Tarek Fatah is a Robert J. and Abby B. Levine Fellow at the Middle East Forum, a founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, and a columnist at the Toronto Sun.
