Freedom advocates do not have a bright future in Afghanistan, given the ruthlessness of the Taliban. Nonetheless, “hundreds of protesters took to the streets of the capital Kabul chanting anti-Pakistan slogans and calling for ‘freedom’, a day after resistance leader Ahmad Massoud called for an ‘uprising’ against the Taliban rule.”
Anything reported out of Afghanistan will increasingly become shrouded by propaganda, given Taliban control over media and its strong-arming of the population to keep it in a stranglehold under strict Islamic rule.
The protesters tried to avoid anti-Taliban rhetoric as they focused on demands for freedom, women’s rights and an end to Pakistani interference. But the Taliban fired shots to disperse the demonstrators and injured some, causing at least two to be hospitalized.
Unfortunately all of the protester demands in the Taliban’s view translate to rebellion against Taliban rule, as Pakistan supports the Taliban, the Taliban is extremely oppressive to women as per the Sharia, and freedom is incompatible with the Islamic law to which the Taliban strictly adheres.