A shocking video from Afghanistan has emerged where Mullah Ahmed Akhund, a senior Taliban member and the head of the Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), was seen in a homosexual relationship with his 21-year-old bodyguard.
Furthermore, the Taliban, who are often quite severe about homosexuality and stone gays to death as punishment, have permitted him to maintain his post without taking any action against him. According to the most recent release by DABS, he is still in charge of the directorate and is authorised to carry out his duties without interference from them.
The footage appeared to be recorded with a hidden camera in which Mullah Ahmed Akhund can be seen standing on a bed and undressing after which he lies down. He is then joined by his bodyguard who also removes his clothes and goes under the quilt with him.
The young man previously worked alongside the Taliban leader in the Breshna Sherkat. Notably, he was also seen in the company of Mullah Mohammad Fazl, the Deputy Minister of Defense for the group.
Mullah Ahmed Akhund was chosen on 20 August of this year to lead DABS under the direction of the Taliban’s deputy prime minister. He stated that he would “do basic work” in the Breshna department of Kabul in his inauguration address.
DABS is an independent and autonomous company established under The Corporations and Limited Liabilities Law of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (IROA). It works as a limited liability company owned by the government of Afghanistan. It operates and manages electric power generation, import, transmission and distribution.
The Taliban are silent about punishing their leaders and fighters despite daily media accusations of moral corruption and the “Bacha bazi” of the outfit in their outposts and dormitories. Bacha Bazi is a slang term used in Afghanistan Pakistan and in the history of Turkestan for a custom which involves child sexual abuse by older men. The practice pertains to sexual slavery and child prostitution of young adolescent males or boys, also known as dancing boys.
A recording revealed an individual named Abdullah having fun with a number of other Taliban terrorists as well as multiple women in a room. It was released by the Taliban intelligence last year. According to the individual who captured the incident, both men and women were present and the wine and barbeque bar was set up.
The accused, who was later identified as the brother of Alam Gull Haqqani, was then accused that “he used to come here, provided passports and take eight hundred dollars” by him.
Social media reaction
Netizens pointed out the hypocrisy of the Taliban and raised questions after the clip came to light. A person highlighted the irony and commented, “Top commander of Taliban which says punishment for homosexuality in Islam is death was caught in a homosexual relation with his bodyguard.”
Another remarked, “Majority of Taliban have homosexual relationships from their teenage. Abuse of boys is common in Afghan society.” He also referred to Bacha Bazi and labelled it as a “rotten society.”
A social media user wrote that Taliban sleeping with one another is the Afghan tradition and called the Taliban an extremist homosexual terrorist organisation who hates women and ethnic groups because of the aforementioned reason.
A netizen mocked that it is the reason they ban women from everywhere including sex.
An individual urged the Taliban to punish the accused. He posted, “If the Taliban is really an Islamic emirate, it must punish these criminals, otherwise it will lose its credibility. The Holy Prophet said that those who were before you perished because if their nobles stole, they would let them go, and if the weak stole, they would punish them.”
Taliban’s war on homosexuality
Human Rights Watch and Out Right Action International observed that under the Taliban, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Afghans and those who don’t follow strict gender standards in the country faced a horrific situation and serious dangers to their safety and life in a report published in January 2022.
The 43-page document titled “Even If You Go to the Skies, We’ll Find You: LGBT People in Afghanistan After the Taliban Takeover” was derived from 60 interviews conducted with LGBT individuals there.
Many respondents related disturbing tales of being threatened or targeted by Taliban members because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. Some also shared stories of being mistreated by relatives, neighbours, or love partners who now support the Taliban or believed that retaliation against LGBT people in their community was important for their own protection.
They were consequently compelled to leave their houses to avoid being attacked by Taliban members or their allies. Others talked about how devastating it was to lose the life they had laboriously established over the years, leaving them open to potential harassment at any time due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
LGBT people were at grave risk in Afghanistan even before the Taliban took full control of the nation on 15 August 2021. A law that specifically criminalised same-sex relationships was passed under the leadership of then-President Ashraf Ghani in 2018. Additionally, the previous penal law included ambiguous language that was frequently interpreted as categorising same-sex relationships as a criminal offence.