Ten women foreign ministers condemn clampdown on opposite sex in Afghanistan

Kabul [Afghanistan], February 20 (ANI): Ten women foreign ministers, who attended the 59th Munich Security Conference, in a statement condemned the restrictions imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan, Tolo News reported.
According to Tolo News, the statement was issued by the foreign ministers of Slovenia, Germany, Canada, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Belgium, Andorra, Albania, Mongolia and Libya.
"We strongly condemn the Taliban's push to exclude women from all public life: women are kept from strolling in parks, are not seen on TV screens anymore, are deprived of their right to attend schools and universities, and are now also kept from working in humanitarian assistance," the statement read.
However, according to Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, Afghan women have all the rights within an Islamic framework.
"The rights of women have not been violated in the Islamic community. Their rights have been addressed. The life of women is secured and protected. Their problems are solved by the court. Regarding their activities, there is a need for an environment within Sharia laws and work on it is underway," Tolo News quoted Mujahid as saying.
The statement added that the restrictions on women will "restore the basis to deliver the help that the women, children and men of Afghanistan so urgently need."
The three-day Munich Security Conference featured many world leaders but did not have any Afghan representative.
As Afghan women continue to grapple with challenges related to education due to Taliban-imposed bans, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a recent statement, said women in war-torn Afghanistan are living in exile in their own country, Tolo News reported.
The UN Chief reiterated that the basic rights of Afghan women and girls are being trampled upon, with the ban on education by the de-facto authorities being a case in point.
The UN said in a statement that Guterres expressed his concerns about the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Mujahid, however, refuted such claims saying that women's and girls' rights are upheld in Afghanistan and that the international community should refrain from exerting pressure on the current administration using the subject of women.
"They should not make this a political tool and use it as a means of pressure," Mujahid said, as quoted by TOLO News.
Girls in Afghnaistan have repeatedly called on the Taliban to let them go back to schools and other educational institutes at the earliest.
"We are calling on the current regime to reopen schools, madrassas and all educational centres for girls," Nargis Niazi, a student, told Tolo News. (ANI)