During his Friday sermon, Mawlawi Abdul Hamid, an Iranian Sunni preacher, has advised the Taliban to pay special attention to the Hazaras and Shiites of Afghanistan to prevent them from feeling discriminated against due to their religious differences.
He called the existence of various ethnicities and languages in Afghanistan a “blessing” and urged the Taliban to treat all ethnicities equally and use their merits.
“I would advise the Taliban to pay special attention to the Hazara and Shiite communities, ensuring that they do not feel marginalized due to their religious differences with the rest of Afghanistan. This is something that should never occur,” he said.
Currently, the majority of the Taliban government is made up of members from the Pashtun ethnic group, with no Hazara or Shiite member in the Taliban cabinet. Hazaras have reportedly been employed as deputies in only three ministries, and even in Hazara provinces, the governors are Pashtun Taliban.
This Iranian cleric also recommended that the Taliban should utilize the capacity of university students and educated people and let women study and work, emphasizing that “the rights of women and men are equal.”
The Iranian Preacher declared a similar position to those of many prominent scholars of the Islamic world, but the Taliban have not yet retreated from their restrictions.
