Frontier Gandhi's granddaughter Yasmin Nigar Khan urges world leaders to ensure safety of women under the Taliban.
(Photo Courtesy: Kamran Akther/The Quint)
Video Editor: Shubham Khurana
Born a Pashtun, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, popularly known as 'Frontier Gandhi', was a prominent face of the Indian Independence movement. Known as 'Pride of Afghan', Khan was a proponent of non-violence, like his friend MK Gandhi.
Today, his granddaughter Yasmin Nigar Khan, born and settled in Kolkata, is urging the Indian government and world leaders to ensure safety of women under the Taliban.
Khan (50) is the president of the All India Pakhtoon Jirga-e-Hind, the Afghan community's top body in the country.
Many concerns have been raised over the possible reimposition of an oppressive regime in Afghanistan under the Taliban, like from 1996 to 2001, when punishments were severe and women were denied the most basic rights.
The Taliban's rules on forced marriage and women not stepping out of their homes is not endorsed in Islam, Khan said.
She also added that Taliban's dictate that women should wear full purdah, is not a mandate in Islam.
Khan wants to assure the women of Afghanistan that they are not alone.
"I want to tell the sisters and mothers in Afghanistan...Don't think you are alone. Women of the entire world are standing by you," she added.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)