Female news anchors return to Kabul TV

[speak easy]

As per the BBC world service male and female government employees have been asked to return to work. Zarifa Ghafari, the 29 year old female mayor of Kabul has been invited to continue in her position.

Link to tweet

Taliban urge women to join government as flights evacuate more diplomats from Kabul
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-17/taliban-urge-women-join-government-kabul-afghanistan/100385070

[bearsfootball516]

1. We'll see how long that lasts.

The Taliban is trying to put on a charade of normalcy for just long enough, then once the news cycle changes and people stop paying attention, they'll go back to the pre-2001 system.

[speak easy]

2. I fear your are correct.

[Johnny2X2X]

6. I don't think they care about putting on a show

I think the Taliban agreed to somethings and will keep their end of the deal up as they actually want peace. But on women's rights, they agreed to not close schools and schools are already closing, but that might just be temporary. They've promised girls can go to school, if those schools are open and with girls in them in the coming months then I think they're going to keep true to that.

It's a complicated situation. People see imagery of people painting over billboards that had photos of women, and they think the Taliban is doing that, well the Taliban wasn't even in the area yet, that's just people doing things they think will make the Taliban happy.

The Taliban are not to be trusted, but I think through diplomacy we can help them keep some of their promises. Their head spokesperson was on US TV and clear that there will be no retribution on interpreters or others who worked with the Afghani and American governments. He actually went so far as to say that they need those people to run an effective government.

If they allow female anchors on the news, that's a huge symbolic gesture that suggests they're not going to be as brutal as they were before. But Afghanistan is a big place with segmented factions. The Taliban won't be able to control every town or area, not that those areas were being controlled before though.

We'll see. I don't think the Taliban will be some bastion of reform now, but I'm hopeful this version of them won't be nearly as backwards as the one from the 1990s.

[femmedem]

9. I'm cautiously optimistic that you are correct. n/t

[niyad]

3. Window dressing?

[speak easy]

4. Probably.

At the moment I'll take half an inch of blue sky. Some of the people interviewed in Kabul are half-way hopeful, others are certainly not.

[honest.abe]

5. This could be real.

They are claiming they are moderating. Perhaps they know a return to extreme Sharia isnt going to work anymore once the people have experienced some level of freedom during the past 20 years. We shall see.

[Johnny2X2X]

7. They agreed to this type of thing

This is allowing women to work, this is a big step, the US can still have a lot of influence through aid and diplomacy. The Taliban is saying a lot of the right things right now, we can encourage that at the same time as not trusting them and preparing for the worst.

[honest.abe]

8. Yes.

Fingers crossed this might not be a total humanitarian disaster.