Afghanistan: women are at the forefront of protests against the Taliban
Afghanistan: women are at the forefront of protests against the Taliban
Weeda Mehran, University of Exeter
Despite what they insisted as they swept through Afghanistan, the Taliban appear to have remained largely the same since the days they ruled the roost in the 1990s. But Afghan society has changed tremendously since they were ousted by the US-led invasion in 2001. This is shown by the level of civil resistance observed in the past few weeks, a resistance that has been primarily spearheaded by women.
Such resistance, particularly at a critical time when the Taliban are under the gaze of the international community, is testing the militant group’s claim and ability to govern “fairly” in a changed society. Over the past 20 years, a generation of Afghans has grown up in a country...
