Over the past nearly three years, the Taliban have extensively deprived the people of Afghanistan of their fundamental rights and civil liberties. This group has confiscated all civil, political, and religious freedoms from the people and deemed any form of political and civil activity a crime. In addition to completely excluding women from all aspects of public life, they have harassed and persecuted religious minorities, continuing their practices of detention, massacre, execution, and disappearance of former military personnel. The Taliban have also faced intergroup tensions due to their ethnic exclusivity. Following the killing of two residents of Badakhshan province by the Taliban and widespread public protests against this group, a local Tajik Taliban commander in Baghlan province has also complained about the oppression and tyranny of the Pashtun Taliban against other ethnic groups. However, some citizens and politicians say that oppression, discrimination, and ethnic bias among the Taliban have reached their peak. They express hope that by embracing the protests in Badakhshan, people will not remain silent against Taliban tyranny any longer. According to them, the groundwork for a nationwide uprising against the Taliban within the society is being laid.
With their oppressive behaviors and widespread restrictions over the past nearly three years, the Taliban have suppressed the grounds for protest and criticism from the people. This group has severely suppressed and tortured its protesters and critics, eliminating them and continuing its governance by creating an atmosphere of fear and suffocation.
In the latest incident, despite the deadly actions of the Taliban against the country’s citizens, hundreds of people in Badakhshan province have protested against this group. Over the past three days, protesters have repeatedly chanted slogans against the Taliban regime and demanded that their fighters leave the areas.
Ahmadullah, one of the residents of Badakhshan province, speaking to the Hasht-e Subh Daily, states that since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, they have rigorously and decisively engaged in ethnic, religious, and gender-based oppression. According to him, those who do not have proximity to the senior leaders and decision-makers of the Taliban ethnically do not have a favorable situation.
This resident of Badakhshan states: “The Taliban have escalated their oppression, ethnic discrimination, demeaning treatment based on ethnicity, and torture to unprecedented levels. Despite the risks associated with protesting against a tyrannical regime, people have reached their limit and can no longer endure the Taliban’s ethnic and religious oppression.”
This comes as the Taliban in Badakhshan and some other provinces have repeatedly harassed and persecuted followers of the Shia faith, especially Ismailis, over the past two years. A video circulating on social media shows Taliban fighters severely torturing and humiliating an Ismaili resident of Badakhshan province.
This video, whose precise date is unknown, depicts Taliban fighters holding a knife to the throat of a man they refer to as “poor,” and subsequently declaring he should be shot. While menacing him with weapons, the fighters deride his religious beliefs before the video abruptly concludes, leaving uncertainty regarding the fate of the man.
Meanwhile, an audio recording of a local Tajik Taliban official in Baghlan province has been released, in which he complains about the treatment of Pashtun Taliban towards himself and Tajiks. Local sources have named this local Taliban commander “Mullah Aziz” and said that he, along with some of his associates, has been detained by the Taliban’s security forces in Baghlan province.
In a choked voice, this local Taliban commander in Baghlan province recounts that in a Taliban attack on his home, his two children and a friend have been injured and are currently receiving treatment at Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz province. He sends his complaint to Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban supreme leader, saying: “The oppression by the commanders of the Baghlan security zone against us Tajik Mujahideen is unbearable, something that even never happened even during the time of the Americans [in Afghanistan]. We, who sacrificed our lives for this system [Taliban regime], are now being tightened behind Ranger, beaten with batons, paraded in the streets, and then imprisoned.”
In this audio recording, “Mullah Aziz” questions Taliban officials: “Why [Pashtun Taliban] have started their jihad against Tajik Mujahideen? They abduct our women’s mobiles, asking why they have recorded videos.”
Meanwhile, the Islamic Society of Afghanistan, led by Salahuddin Rabbani, stated in response to the Taliban fighters’ suppression of protesters in Badakhshan. The statement highlights the people’s protests against the Taliban’s actions of insult, assault, killing, and suppression. According to the party’s statement, such tyrannical behaviors have historically been met with firm response from the people.
The party addresses the local Taliban in Badakhshan province, stating that the Taliban group “brings nothing but destruction, slaughter, anti-intellectualism, aggression, and hostility towards the identity and culture of the people.” According to this party, cooperation with the Taliban is “a manifestation of integrity compromise” and “treason,” and the local Taliban should not “become the fuel for this futile battle.”
Furthermore, the “Federalist Assembly of Afghanistan” in response to the popular protests against the Taliban in Badakhshan stated that these demonstrations were “a clear example of the peak of people’s dissatisfaction with the despotic and ethnic regime of the Taliban.” According to this assembly, the residents of Badakhshan province, in the “height of poverty, deprivation, and displacement,” have protested against “the most ruthless group” and have expressed their dissent by sacrificing their lives.
In a statement by this political movement, it is stated: “Oppression, tyranny, injustice, totalitarianism, expansionism, ethnic hegemony, intrusion upon privacy, and the dignity of the people have been the main reasons for the protests of the people of Badakhshan against the Taliban regime.”
Simultaneously, some members of the “Northern Afghanistan Women’s Protest Movement” have complained about the Taliban’s gender, ethnic, and religious discrimination at a protest rally. They have urged the international community to recognize the gender apartheid imposed by the Taliban.
On the other hand, dozens of protesting women and girls have expressed their anger and disgust towards the behavior of the Taliban towards women and other citizens of the country by recording video tapes. In their speeches and press releases, they stated that the Taliban are not committed to any human principles and human rights and seek to eliminate pluralism, ethnic diversity, and cultural diversity in the country through suppression, religious extremism, and ethnocentrism.
Meanwhile, Mujib-ul-Rahman Rahimi, the former spokesman for the High Council for National Reconciliation, in response to the protests in Badakhshan, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) account that the fight for freedom and the end of Taliban occupation is the fundamental right of the people of Afghanistan.
Mr. Rahimi said: “Freedom from Taliban occupation and captivity and achieving the right to determine destiny and self-determination are the priorities of our people’s struggles and efforts. Public mobilization and warm and soft struggle are our religious, identity, and national duties. Until there is no change in the field and our areas are not freed from occupation, there will be no change in politics, justice, negotiation, and participation.”
It is worth mentioning that many citizens have supported the protests of the people of Badakhshan against the Taliban. They have said that the groundwork for soft and warm resistance against the Taliban should be formed within the society. According to them, the popular protests in Badakhshan are clear signs of the formation of anti-Taliban movements within society, and if managed properly, a massive movement against the Taliban will emerge within society.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
قومگرایی طالبان و خشم شهروندان؛ بستر سرنگونی رژیم طالبان از درون جامعه شکل میگیرد
