This is what terrorism brings. That is the title of this piece, but it definitely rings true. Terrorism only cares about one thing: Terror.
What Terrorism Brings: Misogyny
In Afghanistan we are seeing a new phenomenon: female employees are now being told to stay home and they are not being allowed to work unless their job is something that “cannot be replaced by men.” These are just the latest restrictions being placed on women by the new Taliban rulers.
What Terrorism Brings: Religious Extremism
Indeed, this decision to prevent most female city workers from returning to their jobs is just one more sign that the Taliban, who have now overrun Kabul, are yet again going to enforce their harsh interpretation of Islam even though they had promised earlier that they be more tolerant and inclusive than their previous rule in Afghanistan in the 1990s.
What Terrorism Brings: The Destruction of Rights
Last Friday, the Taliban shut down the women’s affairs ministry, and they replaced it with a ministry devoted to the “propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice” and they tasked this ministry with enforcing Islamic law.
On Sunday, over a dozen women staged a protest outside this ministry building, holding up signs that say things like, “A society in which women are not active is (sic) dead society.”
Indeed, there have been several of these demonstrations that have been violently broken up by the Taliban.
However, many of the women have gone public with their desire for rights, and they have said that they would try to leave the country if they continue to be treated as second-class citizens.
What Terrorism Brings: Poverty
As a mark of true desperation, there are many individuals in Afghanistan that are now setting up roadside markets where they are selling their belongings. This is because poverty has now come to Afghanistan after the takeover of the Taliban. Sadly, we can expect all of this destruction and more to continue because yes, that is unfortunately what terrorism brings.