After a US State Department report on religious freedom criticized the treatment of women, girls and religious minorities in Afghanistan, the Taliban says “the religious and civil rights of all minorities in Afghanistan are protected “. Taking to Twitter, Taliban leadership spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that the US State Department’s findings regarding religious freedoms in Afghanistan are “incomplete” and based on “false information”.
The religious and civil rights of all minorities in Afghanistan are protected. In this regard, the State Department report is incomplete and based on false information.
All of our Sunnis, Shiites, Sikhs and Hindus practice their religion freely. We reject the State Department report.— Zabihullah (..ذبــــیح الله م) (@Zabehulah_M33) June 5, 2022
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“Religion and ethnicity in the country were often intertwined. Sikhs, Hindus, Christians and other non-Muslim minorities reported continued harassment from Muslims, although Hindus and Sikhs said that before the Taliban takeover, they continued to be able to publicly practice their religions,” the 2021 International Religious Freedom Report states.
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However, according to Mujahid “All our Sunnis, Shiites, Sikhs and Hindus practice their religion freely.”
“We reject the State Department report,” he added.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has alleged that since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last year, women and girls have been denied their basic rights and that the group’s ideologies are undermining their freedoms .
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Religious minorities, in particular, were also threatened by the group, Blinken added.
He also said that with the group’s rise to power, the groundwork has been laid for the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group to operate in the country.
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According to a Khaama Press report calling the Taliban’s rise to power a “disaster” for Afghanistan, the US commission had previously ordered the State Department to place Afghanistan at the bottom of the religious freedom rankings.
The State Department also expressed concern over a “gross violation” of religious freedom in China, Pakistan, Iran, India and Myanmar in 2021.
(With agency contributions)
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