Hadi: Taliban has changed, don't believe Western media

 

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang today defended the Taliban, saying the organisation which has taken over Afghanistan has changed for the better.

In an editorial published in the party's mouthpiece Harakahdaily, he said proof of this is how the Taliban issued mass pardons to all who worked with the United States and allowed "liberals" to flee the country.

This came after his son, Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi, was temporarily suspended from social media platform Facebook for congratulating the Taliban for "liberating" Afghanistan.

Going over the origin of the Taliban, Hadi (above) said it is true the Taliban had before this imposed strict rules on the population, including barring girls and women from getting an education.

However, contrary to reports on the ground, Hadi said the Taliban now has changed and is wiser, even though still steadfast in its struggle to uphold Islam.

"The Western media and the local media who act as their apparatus, are amplifying negative aspects of the Taliban when they first emerged.

"But the latest developments show they are wiser in taking on their foes and have held negotiations with US diplomats. So much so that they finally succeeded in taking over Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, peacefully," he added.

Hadi said the fact that the Taliban had pardoned Hamid Karzai, who was president after the Taliban fell in 2001, also showed how it is not as evil as the West make them out to be.

He dismissed scenes of the chaos of people trying to flee Kabul, when the Taliban took over on Aug 15, as those who were unreasonably afraid.

"The chaos at the Kabul airport was made up of groups who were afraid because they had served the old regime, under the shadows of the United States.

"They wanted to flee and were anxious (bersikap gelabah), even though the Taliban had already issued a mass pardon," he added.

Hadi said the move to pardon former allies to the US was emulating Prophet Muhammad, who released and pardoned all his enemies when he took over Mecca.

"Compare this to the revenge taken through the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, the American Revolution, the English Revolution and so on where many were sacrificed in mass killings," he wrote.

Hadi's account of the Taliban's takeover runs counter to reports by international media and Afghans on social media, which show a panicked populace trying to escape or bracing for a return of harsh, conservative rule.

Women journalists, mostly presenters, said they have been barred from returning to work while teachers remarked they are burning records of girls who attended school to avoid repercussions.

Harrowing footage at the airport showed Afghans hanging on to a plane as it takes off, and parents handing over their babies to the US military over razor wire.

Among those who died trying to flee Kabul on news of the Taliban takeover was a national footballer and youths, who were too young to recall the Taliban rule 20 years before, or worked for the post-Taliban regime.

Hadi's statement this morning received varied responses on social media.

On Facebook, many in the comments section praised him for giving an easy to understand primer on the Taliban's origins and where the group stands now.

On Twitter, however, users started reporting his posting on the matter for violation of community standards, prompting his social media administrators to lock up the party president's account, so it can only be viewed by existing followers and not the public.

Perhaps in a bid to escape a Facebook suspension, as per Khalil's case, Hadi's Facebook and Twitter postings linking to his Harakahdaily editorial spelt the word Taliban as "T4L1BAN".

Facebook has banned all content supporting the Taliban on its platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp.

Since the Taliban's return to power, the Malaysian government has not issued any statements on the matter.

The cabinet resigned on Aug 16, while the new cabinet under Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, has yet to be appointed. - Mkini