Four years since the Taliban’s surprise return to power, Kabul hosted a remarkable celebration on Friday rain of flowers from helicopters, speeches by leaders, and thousands of men packing the streets. Women were, as always, absent from the scene.
The “flower showers,” held at six locations around the Afghan capital, celebrated the fourth anniversary of the Taliban’s August 15, 2021, takeover. It was a spectacle for many men. For women, it was a reminder of the walls coming up between them and public life.
A Celebration Without Women
Of the six flower drop sites assigned by authorities, three were forbidden to women by Taliban edicts that have forbidden them from parks and entertainment zones since November 2022. The others? Off-limits by fiat.
The anniversary event men-only speeches by cabinet members, public rallies, and even an outdoor sports performance that was subsequently cancelled was off-limits to women.
For women’s rights activists, the day was a day of sorrow rather than joy. Members of the United Afghan Women’s Movement for Freedom organized indoor demonstrations in Takhar province, describing the return of the Taliban as “the start of a black domination.” Their statement to the Associated Press was bitter:
“This day is an open wound of history that has not yet healed. The defeat of Afghanistan was not the defeat of our will. We stand, even in the darkness.”
In Islamabad, Afghan women conducted another protest, with placards announcing, “Forgiving the Taliban is an act of enmity against humanity” and “August 15th is a dark day.” Covered head-to-toe, with eyes showing, they delivered a message that refused to be erased.
Taliban Leader Warns Against ‘Ungratefulness’
In a public address that is not common, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada threatened Afghans that failure to value Islamic rule will incur God’s “severe punishment.” He attributed sharia law with having rescued the nation from “corruption, oppression, theft, robbery, and plunder.”
“On Victory Day celebrations, convey huge gratitude to Allah Almighty so that the blessings would grow,” he exhorted in a statement uploaded on X.
Akhundzada and the head of the Taliban’s judicial system, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, were charged with crimes against humanity in International Criminal Court arrest warrants last month, including the persecution of women and girls. They were accused by the ICC of withholding education, jobs, and fundamental freedoms of movement, expression, and religion from Afghan women.
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Muted Celebrations, Growing Crises
This year’s commemoration was more subdued than last year’s armed parade at an ex-US airbase, which had showcased discarded American hardware a spectacle that even provoked outrage from US President Donald Trump.
Auspicious celebrations belie a stark reality. Afghanistan is in increasing humanitarian crisis, exacerbated by climate catastrophes, Afghans’ mass expulsion from Iran and Pakistan, and declining international aid.
For the Taliban, the flowers that fell off helicopters might have represented triumph. For Afghan women, it was an echo of how much they’ve been pushed to the margins observing from the inside of closed doors as history is rewritten in their absence.
