Woman can't be a minister, they should give birth: Taliban spokesperson

Kabul: Quashing all possibilities of women being included in the government under the Taliban in Afghanistan, a spokesperson of the group in an interview said women should restrict themselves to giving birth.

The statement by the spokesperson has now sparked controversies and it reinforces the perception that the hardline group's claims of a new improved version since its brutal rule in Afghanistan in the 1990s are not reliable.

The comments by Taliban spokesperson Sayed Zekrullah Hashimi to TOLO News on the new Afghan government missing women ministers have been widely shared on social media.

"A woman can't be a minister, it is like you put something on her neck that she can't carry. It is not necessary for women to be in the cabinet - they should give birth. Women protesters can't represent all women in Afghanistan," Hashimi told TOLO news.

When the interviewer countered his remark saying women are half of the society, Hashimi replied that we do not consider them half and said that word itself is misdefined here.

"The half means here that you keep them in the cabinet and nothing more. And if you violate her rights, not an issue. Over the last 20 years, whatever was said by this media, the US, and its puppet government in Afghanistan, was it anything but prostitution in offices?"

He further stated that the four women protesting in the streetsdo not represent the women of Afghanistan. "The women of Afghanistan are those who give birth to the people of Afghanistan, educates them on Islamic ethics," said the spokesperson.

On why he thought women could not be ministers, Hashimi said: "What a woman does, she cannot do the work of a ministry. You put something on her neck that she cannot carry."

The Taliban announced an all-male cabinet for its interim government on Tuesday, with hardliners and globally wanted terrorists in key ministries.

Ever since its takeover of Kabul on August 15, the group known for its oppressive regime 20 years ago, has tried to distance itself from its old policies of excluding women from work and education. But there has been a mismatch between its words and actions.

The Taliban said under new rules, women may work "in accordance with the principles of Islam". Women can also study at university in classrooms that are segregated by sex, but they must wear an abaya robe and niqab covering most of the face.