JAKARTA - Senior Taliban officials have reiterated that they will soon allow girls to return to secondary school, while insinuating that "bad girls" protesting the regime's restrictions on women's rights must stay home.
Afghanistan's acting Interior Minister and Deputy Taliban Leader since 2016 Sirajuddin Haqqani, made this point in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour in Kabul.
While promising girls could return to secondary school, the Taliban overturned their decision in March, delaying it indefinitely.
When asked about Afghan women who say they are afraid to leave their homes under Taliban rule, and those who have reported the dire effects of militant group leadership, Haqqani said with a laugh:
"We keep bad women at home," he told CNN May 19.
"By saying naughty women, it is a joke that refers to naughty women being controlled by some other party to question the current government," he continued.
Haqqani also set several parameters for the future of women and work, which would be constrained by the Taliban's interpretation of Islamic law, as well as national, cultural and traditional principles.
"They are allowed to work within their own framework," he told Amanpour.
Her comments on girls' education and women's rights emphasize a range of claims, none against (women's) education in the Afghan government.
"Girls are allowed to go to school until grade 6, and beyond that grade, work continues with the mechanism," said Haqqani.
"Soon, you will hear good news on this matter, God willing," he added, without specifying a timeframe.
Previously, the Taliban had repeatedly made guarantees to the international community that they would protect the rights of women and girls since seizing Afghanistan in August. At the same time, they also stripped them of many of their freedoms and protections. Many school-age girls and women have lost hope.
"Their whole government is against the education of girls. I don't believe that the Taliban keep their promises, they don't understand our feelings," Maryam, 19, told CNN. "
"Step by step they took all our freedoms. The Taliban today and the Taliban of the 90s are the same – I don't see any change in their policies and rules," said Fatima (17)
"Our only hope is that the international community puts extreme pressure on the Taliban to allow girls to go to school. Nothing else is working."
Maryam and Fatima, like other women who spoke to CNN, did not give their last names because of concerns about their safety.
When asked by Amanpour about whether all women should cover their faces, Haqqani replied diplomatically.
"We don't force women to wear the hijab, but we advise them and preach to them from time to time. Hijab is not obligatory but is an Islamic commandment that everyone should follow," she said.
To note, this is his first camera interview with Western media in recent years, months after his first public appearance.
Labeled a global terrorist and given special attention by the United States Department of State, he is wanted by the FBI and valued at around $10 million.
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