The Taliban has claimed that it has a “right” to speak for Muslims in Kashmir but does not intend to raise arms against India on the matter. The remarks come days after the terror group said it wants to establish cordial ties with India.
Speaking to the BBC on Saturday, Suhail Shaheen, the spokesperson for the Taliban’s political office in Doha, said, “As Muslims, we also have a right to raise our voice for Muslims in Kashmir, India, or any other country.”
Talking about the injustices Muslims faced globally, Shaheen added, “We will raise our voice and say that Muslims are your people, your citizens, and they are entitled to equal rights under your law.”
However, he noted that extending support for Muslims does not mean that the Taliban will engage militarily against any country. Shaheen stressed that the Taliban had “no policy of conducting armed operations against any country.”
Since seizing control of Afghanistan on August 15, the Taliban has promised not to use the country as a base for terrorists. This promise also forms part of the terms of the 2020 Doha Agreement signed by the Taliban and the US in February last year that guaranteed the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan in return for the group preventing the country from becoming a base for terrorists to launch attacks against America.
Shaheen’s comments come after the Taliban vowed not to use Afghanistan for anti-India activities. Last week, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the group’s Doha political office chief, said India’s concerns would be “positively addressed,” and that it had no intention of raising arms against the country. Stanekzai also separately called for greater ties with India. “India is very important for this subcontinent. We want to continue our cultural, economic, and trade ties with India like in the past,” he said.
Moreover, in a recent interview with CNN News 18, top Taliban leader Anas Haqqani stressed that the group had no intention of interfering in Kashmir. “Kashmir is not part of our jurisdiction, and interference is against policy. How can we go against our policy? We will not interfere,” Haqqani, who is also closely linked with the Haqqani network, said. He stressed that the network would not target India, and said allegations that it is close to anti-India terror groups are just “propaganda.”
India has raised concerns about the Haqqani group, a part of the Taliban, and its leader Sirajuddin Haqqani. The group was responsible for the 2008 bombings on the Indian embassy in Kabul that resulted in the killing of more than 75 people, including Indian diplomats.
New Delhi fears that the Taliban regime could embolden militant groups in Kashmir to carry out attacks against Indian security forces. In this regard, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday said, “Our focus is that Afghan soil should not be used for anti-India activities and terrorism of any kind.”
India has spent more than $3 billion in development works in Afghanistan and built close ties with the previous US-backed government in Kabul. However, with the Taliban seizing power in Afghanistan last month, India has adopted a “wait and watch” approach regarding the group’s actions, especially over human rights, before establishing formal ties.