Taliban convened a rally on Tuesday to bolster the support of the clerics in Panjshir province. In the gathering, the Taliban read what they termed as “Panjshir clerics fatwa” in which chaos against the Taliban has been considered as rebellion.
However, several clerics who had been present at the rally questioned the validity of the issued fatwa.
Abdul Mutalib Amiri, a resident of Panjshir, read the fatwa, a part of which stressed that "the one who succeeds with sword and takes charge of the caliphate, is called "Amir al-Muminin" and for the one who believes in God, it is not permissible to spend even one night without accepting the Amir al-Muminin as Imam.”
The fatwa emphasised that “the government of the Islamic Emirate has been established through allegiance and dominance, both ways for gaining legitimacy, that are considered to be clear signs of an Islamic government”.
Local Taliban officials, including Mohammad Mohsen Hashemi, the governor of the group for Panjshir, participated in this meeting.
However, some clerics who participated in the meeting questioned the validity of the issued fatwa.
One of the participants said that a fatwa is issued by someone who is "the most respected inhabitant of a region”. Referring to the fact that he was invited to issue a fatwa, the cleric said, "How honoured I am that the Islamic Emirate soldiers search me twice,” before entering the venue of the meeting.
According to this participant, the Taliban even checked his turban to make sure that there is no bomb hidden in it.
In the reports broadcast by local media, participants of the programme openly criticised the mistreatment of the people of Panjshir by the Taliban.
Mawlawi Kazem, one of the clerics of Panjshir, said that "issuing a fatwa is not a simple matter in which anyone dares to stand up and issue a fatwa”.
Shaikh Masihullah, a tribal elder, also called on the Taliban to demonstrate good behaviour with the people of Panjshir and said that there should not be a double standard with residents of this province.
Although Panjshir was one of the safest provinces in Afghanistan in the twenty years before the Taliban took over, after the Taliban entered this province, numerous reports of mass arrests, widespread torture and shooting of civilians and prisoners of war were published in this province.
Human rights organisations have accused the Taliban of using widespread violence against the people of Panjshir province and committing war crimes.
