A video clip of the Taliban spokesperson’s interview with an Indian news channel is drawing a lot of attention on social media platforms.
In an interview with journalist Dinesh Gautam of TV9 news channel, Suhail Shaheen was asked why so many people are fleeing Afghanistan and the Taliban spokesperson’s response has now gone viral in India.
The journalist asked several questions related to Taliban’s foreign policy, defense, terrorism and Kashmir, however, when Gautam asked Shaheen about why so many Afghans were leaving the country, he got an answer he or his the viewers weren’t expecting.
Gautam asked the Taliban spokesperson why people are leaving Afghanistan in such huge numbers even after the Taliban announced amnesty to everyone.
“If now, the US in India announces that whosoever wants to go to the western countries to reside there, can come to the Delhi airport in the next 2-3 hours, you’ll see that lakhs of people will flood the airport, does that mean everyone is terrified of the Indian government ?” Shaheen remarked.
Shaheen added that even people who didn’t work with the US and NATO forces went to the airport in a bid to try to get to the west somehow.
Suhail Shaheen is a member of the negotiations team and polit, and the official spokesman for international media English for the Islamic Emirates.
The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan has given yet another excuse to India’s right-wing Hindu Nationalists to unleash a new wave of Islamophobia against its minority Muslim community.
Al-Jazeera reported that Muslim politicians, writers, journalists, social media influencers and everyday citizens have become targets of a massive hate campaign launched by the country’s right-wing, including members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).