In his Eid al-Fitr message, Hibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Taliban, has urged members of the group to avoid internal disagreements and discord similar to that of the past mujahideen. This comes amidst recent reports indicating Akhundzada’s efforts to consolidate his power, with some members reportedly defying his directives. Earlier, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), citing its sources, noted that mid-level Taliban commanders maintain close ties with senior leaders, often bypassing Akhundzada’s commands. Akhundzada exclusively addresses men in his message, overlooking women entirely. He underscores an increase in the activities of the Taliban’s Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and mosque imams, urging clerics to “reform” people. However, some citizens perceive the Taliban supreme leader’s message as a denial of citizens’ rights and as hostage-taking. Conversely, some argue that Akhundzada has refrained from declaring “global jihad” following scrutiny of unmanned aerial vehicles and is advocating for better relations with the world. They contend that the Taliban’s security assurances are “lies” and that the group has harbored dozens of regional terrorist organizations in Afghanistan.
In his Eid message, the Taliban supreme leader, instead of emphasizing on rule of law, has called on affiliated clerics to “reform” the people. Under this directive, mosque imams are mandated to, in the words of the group’s supreme leader, “rectify the beliefs, actions, and ethics of their followers and their children.”
Hibatullah Akhundzada has once again stressed the expansion of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice’s activities, asserting that councils of influential figures will extend beyond provinces to districts to enforce Sharia rulings.
However, some citizens argue that this directive strengthens the Taliban’s interference, especially through the group’s moral police, in people’s personal lives to a greater extent than ever before. These citizens believe that individuals currently lack the freedom to make choices regarding their appearance, such as facial hair and clothing, and Hibatullah’s persistent emphasis on this issue marginalizes people and deprives them of their human rights in society.
One citizen, Gulbuddin Sharifi, comments that the Taliban supreme leader’s Eid message focuses solely on dictating people’s destinies and expressing disdainful ideological views towards them. He emphasizes, “This message underscores the absence of citizenship in Taliban rule, portraying people as sinners and criminals in Hibatullah’s perspective.”
A portion of the speech attributed to the absent Taliban supreme leader mentions that the Ministry of Education, under the group’s control, has actively established extensive organizations for both religious and modern education in the country. In addition to prioritizing religious education in his message, he highlights the establishment of orphanages in every province and some districts.
The message makes no mention of educating girls and women. The absence of women’s education in Mullah Hibatullah’s message is seen as indicative of his opposition to modern education and gender equality. Some women and girls argue that the Taliban supreme leader’s thinking is misogynistic and that anything stated by Hibatullah excludes women.
The absent Taliban supreme leader claims that with the group’s dominance over Afghanistan, both “external and internal security” in the country has been ensured. He urges people to collaborate with the group’s forces to, as he puts it, confront “corrupters.” Hibatullah calls on people to be aware of the security of their cities, homes, and streets.
The Taliban supreme leader states that security is not achieved through severity and inflicting heavy casualties. He instructs members of the group to refrain from oppressing people and unjustly imprisoning them. He also continues to urge Taliban members to “avoid discord and selfishness.” Mullah Hibatullah attributes the failure of the mujahideen government to the discord and selfishness of the jihadist leaders.
This comes as citizens of the country complain about insecurity and lack of safety for their lives and property. According to them, the Taliban arbitrarily detain, imprison, and torture individuals without any reason.
A Kabul resident, who prefers to remain anonymous, tells the Hasht-e Subh Daily: “Security is very different from fear of Taliban torture and oppression. People don’t have mental, emotional, or physical security. No one even has control over their property. The Taliban do whatever they want whenever they want. They shoot young people at bus stops during the day, but there’s no accountability, and no one can sleep peacefully in their homes for fear of Taliban retaliation.”
The resident further adds, “Taliban’s security is only for those who belong to this group. Apart from Taliban members and sympathizers, no one else in the homeland has security, safety, or dignity. We can’t spend a single night without fear and trembling of being detained and interrogated by the Taliban.”
In his Eid message, the absent Taliban supreme leader also makes lofty claims on the economic department of the country. He stated, “One of the religious responsibilities of the Islamic system and leadership is to pay attention to the economy of the subjects, an effort through which subjects find relief from neediness.” While he didn’t mention any specific economic program to manage the deteriorating situation and human crises, he said that the group has made efforts towards establishing companies for public works. However, Mullah Hibatullah didn’t provide further details on this matter in his message.
Hibatullah Akhundzada urged people to create opportunities for agriculture, and establish factories, and cooperate with the group. According to him, the Taliban regime is also striving to improve conditions in the agriculture sector.
In the Eid message of the Taliban supreme leader, it is seen that there is flexibility after the scrutiny of unmanned aerial vehicles. He urged countries to respect Afghanistan’s airspace and have close relations with this group. According to him, the Taliban seeks good relations with all nations.
Abdullah Khenjani, former Deputy State Ministry for Peace, in response to Mullah Hibatullah’s Eid message, writes that before the scrutiny of unmanned aerial vehicles, he had stated that they would fight with the West for another 20 years. Still, after the surveillance of drones, they are calling for good relations with the world.
Mr. Khenjani writes: “Mullah Hibatullah’s message before the unmanned aircraft flights: ‘We will fight with you (the West) for another 20 years.’ Mullah Hibatullah’s message after the flights of unmanned aircraft: ‘We want good relations with the world.’ If this man [Hibatullah] is so eager for jihad, martyrdom, and sacrifice, why is he still fleeing from cave to cave for fear of martyrdom?”
The Taliban supreme leader’s message is released at a time when, after the attack on Moscow by the ISIS Khorasan (IS-K), unmanned aerial vehicles, said to be belonging to the United States, have increased their surveillance over some provinces in Afghanistan, including Kandahar. Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada has left his headquarters after these surveillances and has moved to a military base in this province.
