Britain’s Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary has called on the ultra-hardline Taliban to become more fanatic than it already is. The radical cleric, who has inspired generations of jihadists, has urged Taliban to abolish all traces of Western culture from Afghanistan by banning “useless pursuits such as music, drama and philosophy”.
Insisting that the Islamist fundamentalist organisation must enforce the strictest Islamic sharia in the occupied country, Choudary in his venomous tirade, suggested that only strict sharia punishments, including chopping off thieves’ hands, lashing anyone caught drinking alcohol and stoning adulterers, must be enforced in Afghanistan.
Choudary opined, “The penal code or Hudood is the right of Allah. To cut the hand off the thief, stone the adulterer, implementing capital punishment upon the apostate and lashing those who drink alcohol (all after due court process and evidence) must be implemented without question and hesitation.”
He urged the Taliban that the non-Muslims living in Afghanistan must pay the ‘jizya’ tax to ensure that they receive protection. When India was under the Mughal rule, jizya was common practice and non-payment could lead to enslavement. The slaves were then sold to recover the taxes during that time.
His vile rant did not end at this. The Islamist preacher, who was jailed for five-and-a-half years in 2016 after being convicted of inviting support for the Islamic State group, also urged the Taliban to change the name of Afghanistan to Islamic State, which is what ISIS called its territory once it is declared a caliphate.
“There should be the removal of all borders and an invitation to all Muslims to become citizens of the new Islamic State to unite the Muslim land of the Indian sub-continent, to begin with, to be the precursor of greater unity under the Khilafah (caliphate),” he opined.
He also called on the Taliban to shut down Afghanistan’s embassies abroad, even in Muslim countries, and expelling the United Nations from Kabul.
The Islamist preachers advice comes at a time when the Afghans are staring at the resurgence of atrocities and oppression under Taliban rule. From the open execution of those trying to flee Kabul to multiple bans imposed on Afghan women under the Sharia law to the atrocities on the women and children of the war-torn country, the barbarity being executed by these Islamists fundamentalists on the innocent civilians from the time they have gained grounds in the country is very disturbing.
