Taliban seek list of girls above 15 and widows under 45 for marrying its fighters

Desk: Taliban has ordered villagers to marry off their daughters and widows to its fighters.

A report in the leading Pakistan newspaper Dawn quotes a letter issued in the name of Taliban’s cultural commission as stating: “All imams and mullahs in captured areas should provide the Taliban with a list of girls above 14 and widows under 45 to be married to Taliban fighters.”

The report also mentions a number of fiats issued by the Taliban which include that no one leaves home at night, no person can wear red and green clothes, every should wear a turban and no man can shave.

The commandments also include that the girls attending schools beyond sixth grade were barred from classes.

It says that there is no smoking or shaving allowed in the areas under Taliban.

The report quotes Taliban orders as saying: “women can’t go to the bazaar without a male companion and men should not shave their beards.”

A report in another online portal says: “The militants have erected posters in some areas to inform residents of the new regulations. In other places, insurgents have driven around with loudspeakers and made announcements at mosques.”

With the oncoming Taliban rule increasingly becoming a certainty, the country is staring to a return to the old days when ‘women were banned from going outside alone, girls were barred from attending school and unmarried women were forced to marry fighters.’

The advancement of Taliban has caused concerns in India too. Their ideology and world view does not differ much from that of ISIS. And while their return to rule is only a matter of time and India too would finally would have to do business with them, the prospects of having normal foreign and trade relations with them are not very encouraging as far as India is concerned.

However, there are reports that suggest that India may have opened some back channel with them in view of their certain return to power in Afghanistan.