Afghan Women Rights Activist On Hunger Strike, Demands Recognition of Gender Apartheid

Tamana Zaryab Paryani, an Afghan women's rights activist, has started a hunger strike in Germany to protest against the Taliban's policies towards Afghan women.

Paryani told Afghanistan International that women have been subjected to torture and violence over the last two years and have been deprived of human rights because of their gender.

She will be on a hunger strike for twelve days in Cologne, Germany, starting from September 1.

She said that there is "gender apartheid" ongoing in Afghanistan and the international community, especially Germany, should recognise this discrimination of the Taliban. Paryani also emphasised that the German government should ban any kind of engagement with the Taliban.

Preventing more financial support and blocking Taliban officials’ travels abroad Afghanistan are among other demands of Paryani.

The women's rights activist also demanded the release of political prisoners from the Taliban prisons.

Tamana Paryani is one of the Afghan women who, along with several other, took to the streets of Kabul during the first days of the Taliban's return to Afghanistan, demonstrating against the strict practices of the group.

Following these protests, the Taliban intelligence agency raided the house of Paryani in Kabul and arrested her and Paryani’s four sisters. They spent 26 days in the Taliban’s prison in Kabul.

A few months after being released from the custody of the Taliban, she, along with her sisters, fled Afghanistan and shifted to Germany.

In the last two years, the Taliban has deprived women of work and education and imposed strict policies against them. Despite widespread protests and international pressures, the Taliban has not retreated from its restrictive policies towards women.