SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — KRONon’s Sanaz Tahernia is joined for a one-on-one interview with Aisha Wahab, an Afghan councilmember in the Bay Area. She gives her response after the Taliban claims it will honor women’s rights, within Islamic law, as they takeover the country.
Wahab, Hayward’s Mayor Pro Tempore since 2020, says some extended family members she’s been able to contact in Afghanistan are okay, but it is the “fear of the unknown and what’s going to happen in the coming days and weeks and months that everybody seems to have.”
On Tuesday morning, Taliban leaders said said they would respect women’s rights with respect to Islamic law, but did not give further details of what that looked like. Their overthrowing of Afghanistan’s government led to fear and panicked attempts by residents at fleeing the country. One eye-opening photo from evacuations showed hundreds of Afghans aboard a U.S. cargo plane.
“Although the Taliban are stating that women can be a part of the government and and can go to work and go to school, the sad reality is you do not see women in the street, and women were never part of the ritual peace talks,” said Wahab. “That is the biggest concern – are [women] just going to be used as a symbol, a puppet? Or are they truly going to be a part of the decision making process?”
She adds that it’s not just a concern for women, but minorities as a whole – including ethnic and religious minorities in Afghanistan.
Watch her full interview above to get her insight on the Afghanistan crisis.