Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, Taliban’s deputy foreign minister, left for UAE after criticising ban on secondary school and higher education for girls

Summary

Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban’s deputy foreign minister, reportedly fled to the UAE after criticizing the Taliban’s ban on girls’ education.

In a January 20 speech, he condemned the restrictions as unjust and contrary to Islamic teachings.

Following his remarks, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada allegedly ordered his arrest and imposed a travel ban. Stanikzai claims he left for health reasons.

This comes amid increasing international pressure, with the ICC seeking arrest warrants against Taliban leaders for crimes against humanity over their treatment of women.

  • @NOT_RICKEnglish
    23•18 hours ago

    Forced to flee for having a divergent opinion, fucking dumb even by Taliban standards

    Edit: thinking about this some more, I feel like this situation perfectly encapsulates why authoritarianism is so self destructive. You end up with a rigid set of ideas that are completely inflexible. Reality must bend to the ideas of the party rather than the other way around, until the party’s line becomes so incongruent with reality that things come tumbling down in an instant. It’s a shame the Taliban seem ok with Afghanistan remaining impoverished so long as they can continue treating women like shit.