Hands off Panjshir!

The international community should not be silent about the deteriorating human rights situation in Afghanistan. It must speak up about the crackdown on the rights of women, children, ethnic and religious minorities, and all critical voices.

 My name is Shabnam Khudoydodova and I am an independent human rights activist from Tajikistan. As a woman, a human rights defender, and a Tajik citizen, I cannot help but be moved to tears watching the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the Panjshir valley and I call on the international community and governments including Afghanistan’s neighbors to protect the Afghan people and to open up humanitarian corridors for fleeing refugees. 

I also urge the Persian-speaking communities across the globe to pay special attention to what is happening in Panjshir. We should mobilize our networks to protest against the destructive, extremist policies that Pakistan’s intelligence services have promoted in Afghanistan to prop up the Taliban. 

We should demonstrate outside the Pakistani embassies in our respective countries and stand in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and demand their liberation from the imposition of extreme interpretations of Islam. Afghanistan belongs to the Afghan people, not to Pakistan’s notorious intelligence services. 

We must not cede the future of Afghanistan to the Taliban and must continue to demand a representative, democratic form of government. I also call specifically on Tajiks who live in Europe: 

Please do not ignore my plea. Let us raise our voices together for the liberation of our brotherly Afghan people. Perhaps our voices will awaken the international community from its deep sleep.