Dec. 25—A new decree, published July 31, 2024, mandates a number of extreme measures directed at women, and to a lesser degree at men, by the Taliban supreme religious leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. Afghanistan’s Official Gazette published it under the title, “Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Law” (the PVPV law). In August, an unofficial translation of the decree was made available by the Afghanistan Analysts Network.
Adding to some 100 decrees restricting adult women from workplaces and from full access to higher education, the PVPV law adds new injunctions about how both women and men should cover their bodies, and other restraining orders. While the Quran says nothing at all about this issue, many Muslim rulers see this as an exercise of their capacity to rule over the masses, calling it “tradition.”
However, sources on the scene throughout Afghanistan report that the religious hardliners are in the process of “preparing their own funeral” in these restraints, since most Afghans don’t accept or follow such extreme interpretations of Islamic law, and turn away more and more from such hardliners, leaning instead towards the moderates. This dynamic comes in the context of the efforts underway toward economic development and sovereignty, however severe the circumstances are under Western sanctions and economic warfare.
BRICS Nations Back Development, Sovereignty
The PVPV law was one of the reasons why Afghanistan was not present at the BRICS Kazan summit, Oct. 22-24, not even as an observer. It is noteworthy, however, that the BRICS final Summit statement, though taking a demanding stance in its section on Afghanistan, absolutely opposed the “isolationist” attitude and belligerence of the West. The BRICS member nations neighboring Afghanistan are all engaging with Kabul on economic, security and other matters. This includes the border-sharing countries of China and Iran, as well as Russia, India, and the UAE.
The Kazan BRICS resolution, Point 42, emphasizes, “the need for an urgent peaceful settlement in Afghanistan in order to strengthen regional security and stability,” and calls on Afghanistan to produce some “more visible and verifiable measures” in that respect. The declaration also stresses “the need to provide urgent and uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people and to safeguard the fundamental rights of all Afghans including women, girls and different ethnic groups.” The BRICS statement calls on Afghanistan authorities “to reverse the effective ban on girl’s secondary and higher education.”
Of course, the BRICS are right. The “issue” of the rights of all Afghans can only be solved domestically, and in a framework of national reconciliation and reconstruction which the entire world should facilitate. Outside “isolationist” pressure will only favor the hard liners.
