Top Taliban Official’s Public Criticism Reignites Internal Rift Speculations

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Sirajuddin Haqqani

Ayaz Gul
VOA News
February 13, 2023

ISLAMABAD — Senior leaders of Afghanistan’s ruling Islamist Taliban have recently resorted to rare public criticism of each other, reigniting internal rift speculations over whether girls should be allowed to receive an education.

The war of words began last Saturday when the influential Taliban interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, lashed out at his leadership for “monopolizing” power, though he did not name anyone.

“Our views and thoughts have dominated us to such an extent that power monopolization and defamation of the entire [ruling] system have become common,” Haqqani told a religious gathering in his native southeastern Khost region. “This situation can no more be tolerated.”

The minister added that the Taliban administration should desist from adopting policies that would drive a wedge between “the [ruling] system and the people, allowing others to exploit it to defame Islam.”

Haqqani’s remarks seemingly were directed at the Taliban supreme leader or emir, Hibatullah Akhundzada. The reclusive leader ordered the banning of Afghan women from most workplaces and all education since his hardline group seized power in August 2021. Akhundzada’s edicts are supported by a handful of his close associates.

On Sunday, chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid pushed back on Haqqani’s criticism without naming him.

“Our Islamic ethics bind us to not publicly criticize or vilify the emir, minister or a government official,” Mujahid told a gathering in Kabul in a speech aired by Taliban-run official television. “You must approach him and convey your criticism privately and safely, so no one else will hear it.”

Separately, the deputy Taliban minister of justice, Abdul Ghani Faiq, also cautioned officials against undermining the ruling dispensation. He spoke at a graduation ceremony of defense attorneys in Kabul.

“If he is an employer, or employee, or anyone else, or if he is in a ministerial position in the Islamic Emirate, and then he moves against the Islamic Emirate, this is not tolerable,” Faiq was reported as saying by the Afghan media. He used the official title for the Taliban government.

Haqqani is among Taliban leaders who support lifting the ban on girls’ education, according to foreign diplomats who have interacted with the interior minister.

“Now that we are in power, it is our responsibility to heal the wounds of our people and bring them relief,” Haqqani said in his speech.

The interior minister is on the U.S. list of most wanted men for plotting terrorism against American nationals. His so-called Haqqani network of militants staged high-profile deadly attacks in support of the Taliban insurgence against the United States and NATO troops in Afghanistan for almost 20 years until the Taliban retook control of the country 18 months ago.

The international community has refused to grant legitimacy to the Taliban administration, citing bans on women and other human rights concerns.

“What is clear is that a reform movement must gather force from within the Taliban to get Afghanistan to open girls’ schools and let women back at work; all Islamic rights,” Torek Farhadi, a former Afghan official, and political analyst, told VOA in written comments while responding to questions on the public exchange of criticism between Taliban leaders.

“No one else can spearhead this but the Taliban themselves, and time is of the essence, because teenage girls have lost more than a year, and a general mood of hopelessness encourages the educated youth to migrate out of the country,” Farhadi added.

Taliban leaders have long dismissed reports of any internal rifts as Western media propaganda.

Akhundzada has refused to meet foreign delegates and rarely leaves the southern Kandahar city, regarded as the spiritual headquarters and birthplace of the Taliban.

Dozens of Radio Channels Stop Broadcasting in Taliban-Ruled Afghanistan

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
February 13, 2023

ISLAMABAD — Economic hardship and media restrictions stemming from the 2021 return to power of Afghanistan’s Taliban have reportedly forced approximately 34% of radio stations to shutter operations in the country, rendering hundreds of men and women jobless.

The Afghan Independent Journalists Union (AIJU), a Kabul-based local media monitor, released the figures Monday to mark World Radio Day.

AIJU President Hujatullah Mujadidi told VOA that 345 radio channels were operating in the country before the Taliban takeover in August 2021, employing nearly 5,000 people, 25% of them women.

But 117 stations have since ceased broadcasting due to economic problems, Mujadidi said, adding that 1,900 people, more than half of them women, subsequently lost their jobs.

The remaining 228 stations employ more than 1,800 workers, including a few dozen women.

International sanctions on Taliban leaders and the suspension of financial assistance have deepened economic troubles in the largely aid-dependent country, multiplying challenges facing the Afghan media industry.

Critics say increasing censorship and alleged abuses of journalists by Taliban authorities have severely undermined the Afghan free press.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported last November that more than 200 journalists had suffered “arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment, threats, and intimidation” since the Taliban retook the country.

Hundreds of Afghan journalists have since fled to neighboring Pakistan and other countries, fearing reprisals for their critical reporting while the Taliban were waging a deadly insurgency against the United States-backed former Afghan government in Kabul.

Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders says within the first three months of the Taliban takeover in 2021, 43% of Afghan media outlets were shuttered, and 84% of female journalists lost their jobs.

Taliban authorities reject the accusations of abuse and blame the closures on lack of funding. Critics question that assertion.

The Taliban recently blocked access to VOA’s Pashto and Dari sites and the websites for Azadi Radio, run by VOA’s sister network, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Taliban officials have not yet commented on the allegations they blocked the VOA sites.

On Sunday, chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at a televised event in Kabul that foreign media outlets that “only publish negative news” and “don’t reflect [Taliban] achievements” would not be allowed to operate. He did not elaborate.

The Islamist rulers are also under fire for their sweeping restrictions on Afghan women, who are barred from receiving an education and from most workplaces in the country.

No foreign government has yet granted legitimacy to the Taliban regime over human rights concerns, especially the treatment of Afghan women.

Pakistan Launches Anti-Polio Campaign, Detects Virus From Afghanistan

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dpa: Pakistan on February 13 launched a door-to-door campaign to vaccinate millions of children against polio after evidence of cross-border transmission from neighboring Afghanistan. The National Institute of Health confirmed the detection of poliovirus genetically linked to the virus found in Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan in November 2022 in Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, last month. “This is the first evidence of cross-border transmission in more than a year,” the Health Ministry said in a statement. The five-day campaign will target more than 6 million children under the age of five in 39 districts of the country. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban Likely to Lose the Gains if They Resist Changing their Conduct: Kabulov

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Kabulov

Khaama: During an interview with the Indian news outlet “The Week”, the Russian special envoy said that sometimes the Taliban can’t even comprehend simple things. For instance, the group’s de facto regime does not face any immediate threats at the moment. He further added that the Taliban are fortunate enough to be ruling on people who can survive only for ‘water and bread’, however, the situation will not remain as such. Responding to the question that despite talks the Taliban group has not changed their conduct, Kabulov said that diplomacy is the best way to convince the Taliban, otherwise, a rather powerful element is life which will teach them useful lessons. Click here to read more (external link).

‘Haram’ in Sharia, Taliban ‘ban’ contraceptives for women

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Firstpost: The Taliban have allegedly stopped selling contraceptives to women, claiming that it is “haram” or forbidden under Sharia law. Drug stores and pharmacies across Afghanistan have allegedly been directed not to stock any pills, ampoules, or medicines used as contraceptive. Click here to read more (external link).

4.3 magnitude earthquake hist Afghanistan’s Fayzabad

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Khaama: On Monday morning, an earthquake with a Richter scale of 4.3 struck Fayzabad, Afghanistan. The earthquake’s epicentre was 100 km southeast of the northeastern city of Fayzabad. The quake was 135 kilometres deep and struck the region at 5:45 am local time, according to India’s National Center for Seismology (NCS). Click here to read more (external link).

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Afghan Radio Squeezed By Economic and Political Pressures

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Roshan Noorzai
VOA News
February 12, 2023

WASHINGTON — Fifteen years ago, Noorullah Stanikzai returned to his home province of Logar to open a radio station broadcasting cultural and educational programs.

But the future of his station, Zinat FM, has seemed uncertain since the Taliban took power in August 2021.

“I am seriously considering closing the radio,” said Stanikzai, 48, adding that remaining open means having to work in a “challenging environment.”

“For now, the radio is operating, but we might not be able to continue for long. It is possible that today, tomorrow, or a month later, we close,” said Stanikzai.

Zinat FM is one of three local stations still broadcasting in Afghanistan’s Logar province, south of Kabul. But all of them face political and economic challenges, Stanikzai said.

“There is a ban on entertainment programs. We face serious economic problems,” he said. “Like other [private] media outlets [in Afghanistan], we can’t have political shows that we had before the Taliban, or criticize the authorities.”

It’s a pattern seen across Afghanistan, where Taliban restrictions on how media operate — including directives on how to cover certain issues, and bans on entertainment and women’s voices — has made journalism a difficult industry to navigate.

The media watchdog Reporters Without Border has said of the 543 media outlets working in Afghanistan before the Taliban takeover, only 312 remained three months later.

In December, the Taliban also banned FM radio broadcasts of Voice of America and Azadi Radio, which is part of VOA’s sister network Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Gul Mohammad Graan, president of the Afghan chapter of the South Asian Association of Reporters Club and Journalists Forum, told VOA that most of the people in Afghanistan do not have access to the internet, and most areas do not have electricity.

Because of that, he said, “radio is still the most popular medium in the country.”

Even with many stations shutting, “People still have access to radio channels and get their information on the current affairs in the country,” Graan said.

Broadcast changes

Before the Taliban takeover, Zinat FM was broadcasting around the clock, but now it has only 12-hour programming, Stanikzai said.

The situation used to be better for media, he said. “We had many political shows. We could criticize the government authorities, and access to information was better.”

Taliban officials have told journalists in Logar and other provinces that they have the right to cover any issue they want. But they are also warned not to air any news that would weaken the regime.

“Like other news outlets, we do not have the freedom to cover politics or criticize the government… though the Taliban say that ‘we support freedom of speech and press,’” said Stanikzai.

Journalists elsewhere in Afghanistan have said that the Taliban want the media to only air issues the group wants to be covered.

Another factor affecting broadcasts is the ban on all music, said Stanikzai. “They even want us not to air those radio transitions and commercials with music.”

“First, they told us orally that we should not air music or female voices. We requested an official statement. Then they sent us an official notice not to air music and women’s voices,” he said.

Limited programming, decreased revenue

With many issues now off limits, Stanikzai’s station mostly broadcasts educational, health, and religious programs.

But he said, those shows, especially on education, are needed now more than ever as girls are barred from going to school.

Because of the political and economic problems — advertising revenue has sharply declined — Stanikzai’s radio station lost eight employees, including two women.

“We run the radio with only four people,” said Stanikzai. “We were paying about $200 to $250 a month to an employee but now we are paying around $60.”

And while the station used to get around $175 to $235 for an advert broadcast twice a day, that has now dropped to $23 with the exchange rate.

But even with the shortfall, media outlets have to pay for electricity, a commercial license, and taxes.

“In the past, the government would help us. But, now, we have to pay,” he said.

A father of seven, Stanikzai said he has “lost hope” and sees “no future in journalism” in Afghanistan.

“I would probably go back to my village and start farming to feed my family,” he said.

This story originated in VOA’s Afghan service.

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Avalanche Kills two, injures six in Afghanistan

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Khaama: The official said that an avalanche that hit a vehicle in Afghanistan’s northern Badakhshan province on Saturday resulted in two fatalities and six injuries. In the recent past, several people have died in freezing temperatures in Afghanistan, and about 70,000 livestock had also perished in the coldest winter in a decade in the country, officials said. Click here to read more (external link).

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