Freedom of religion under grim state since Taliban seized power in Afghanistan

Kabul [Afghanistan], August 25 (ANI): Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, the country is facing a severe decline in religious freedom as the interim government has failed to safeguard religious minorities, a report by United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said.
As per the report, the Taliban's takeover has placed religious minorities at risk of extinction as several of them have either fled or evacuated to other countries.
The USCIRF report further highlighted that The Taliban administration has failed to safeguard religious minorities from ISIS-K attacks despite repeated pledges to do so for all ethnic and religious communities, adding that the terror outfit's strict conception of Sunni Islam adversely affected all the Afghans who do not adhere to that interpretation, reported Khaama Press.
Moreover, the plight of Afghanistan's Christian community has also gotten extremely worse with religious minorities in Afghanistan being threatened by a surge in terrorist attacks.
Since the Taliban took over on August 15 last year, the atrocities of Taliban officials have forced the country's Hindu and Sikh minorities to escape persecution. Gender minorities have either fled or evacuated to other countries.
Previously, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in its annual report on international religious freedom to the US Congress in early June, described Afghanistan as a "gross violator of religious freedom."
Earlier in July, the supreme leader of the Taliban-run administration in Afghanistan, Hibatullah Akhundzada emphasized the need to implement Islamic laws to ensure justice and safeguard freedom in the country.
Addressing a gathering of religious leaders and elders of his country, Akhundzada stated that Afghans had expelled the "occupying forces" from their country to establish an Islamic State. "...we have Islamic State and this is the responsibility of religious scholars to implement Islamic laws," he said.
Taliban has suspended the secondary education of girls and enforced a strict form of Hijab.
They also provide no opportunities for Afghan women to participate in political and public life, to fit the pattern of absolute gender segregation that is aimed at making women invisible in society.
Notably, Afghan women are staring at a bleak future due to a number of restrictions imposed by the Taliban governing aspects of their lives they are no longer allowed to travel unless accompanied by men related to them and are being curtailed from wearing make-up as well as their reproductive rights.
Unrecognized by most of the international community, the Taliban-led government has committed to curtailing basic human rights as the citizens of Afghanistan continue to live a miserable life in the country. (ANI)