Is it necessary for Afghan women to be part of cabinet? Taliban leader replies

The Taliban spokesperson's interview has been shared repeatedly on social media as several countries, human rights activists and women have been sceptical of the assurances the group has made.

The Taliban have said that women cannot be ministers days after the hardline Islamist group announced an all-male cabinet for its interim government and named hardliners and globally wanted terrorists as key ministers. Taliban spokesperson Sayed Zekrullah Hashimi told Tolo News in an interview that women can't be ministers and they should give birth. "A woman can't be a minister. It is like you put something on her neck that she can't carry. It is not necessary for women to be in the cabinet - they should give birth. Women protesters can't represent all women in Afghanistan," Hashimi told Tolo news.

Afghan women have been protesting to demand they must be represented in the government.  (AP Photo)

And when the interviewer said “women are half of the society”, Taliban spokesperson Hashimi questioned the definition. "But we do not consider them half. What kind of half? The half itself is misdefined here. The half means here that you keep them in the cabinet and nothing more. And if you violate her rights, not an issue,” Hashimi said.

“Over the last 20 years, whatever was said by this media, the US, and its puppet government in Afghanistan, was it anything but prostitution in offices?” He asked to which the Tolo News anchor said he cannot accuse all Afghan women of prostitution.

"I do not mean all Afghan women. The four women protesting in the streets. They do not represent the women of Afghanistan. The women of Afghanistan are those who give birth to the people of Afghanistan and educate them on Islamic ethics," the Taliban spokesperson replied.

He was referring to the women out on the streets of Kabul and other provinces demanding they must be represented in the government in Afghanistan and that their right to education and jobs must be protected. Many of them have been brutally assaulted by Taliban fighters—several videos have shown women with bloodied faces and being threatened with a gun. They were even whipped by Taliban gunmen, reports have said.

The interview has been shared repeatedly on social media as several countries, human rights activists and women have been sceptical of the assurances the Taliban have made. Immediately after they captured Kabul last month, the Taliban said women may work but “in accordance with the principles of Islam" and that they can also study at university in segregated classrooms wearing abaya robe and niqab covering most of their faces.

However, soon after being named as the education minister of Afghanistan, Sheikh Molvi Noorullah Munir said that there is no need for PhD and master’s degree in the country. "No PhD degree, Master's degree is valuable today. You see that the mullahs and Taliban that are in the power, have no PhD, MA or even a high school degree, but are the greatest of all,” Munir is heard saying in another video which was widely circulated on social media.

The Taliban was known for its oppressive regime when it last ruled 20 years ago and handed out harsh punishments, including public executions and floggings, to women found going against the group's diktats.