“If you do not involve all political groups, sooner or later there will be a civil war,” said the Prime Minister in an interview with the BBC published on Tuesday. This could mean an “unstable, chaotic Afghanistan” and make the country “an ideal place for terrorists”. That is worrying.
Two weeks ago, the Taliban introduced around 30 members of their transitional government, including no women and no one from any other political group. Western states had called for an inclusive government that not only included the Taliban. On Tuesday, the militant Islamists presented other members of the government, some of whom belonged to ethnic minorities. Women were again not represented.
Khan also called on the Taliban to give Afghan girls educational opportunities. He called the ban on secondary and high schools for women as un-Islamic. “The view that women shouldn’t get an education is just not Islamic. It has nothing to do with religion, ”said Khan.
With his statements, Khan apparently for the first time publicly directed harsher words against the Islamists. Pakistan has long been accused of supporting the Taliban. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Wednesday that Pakistan wanted the world to come to terms with the Taliban to avert a humanitarian crisis. However, there is no hurry to recognize their government.