'We Have the Right to Raise Voice for Muslims in Kashmir': Taliban

"We have the right, being Muslims, to raise our voice for Muslims in Kashmir, India, or any other country," it said.

Taliban fighters pose for a photograph in Kabul, Afghanistan. Image used for representational purpose.

(Photo: PTI)

Days after the Taliban had indicated that Kashmir was a "bilateral and internal matter," the militant organisation on Thursday, 2 September, stated that it has the right to raise its voice for the Muslim community of Kashmir.

"We have this right, being Muslims, to raise our voice for Muslims in Kashmir, India, and any other country," Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said in an interview with BBC Urdu, Geo News reported.

“We will raise our voice and say that Muslims are your own people, your own citizens and they are entitled to equal rights under your law,” Shaheen said in the BBC Urdu interview.

The statement comes shortly after India, in a meeting with the Taliban's political office in Doha, had raised its concerns about Afghanistan's terrain being used for anti-India activities.

Shaheen, however, clarified in the BBC Urdu interview that as per the terms of Taliban's Doha agreement with the US, the organisation had “no policy of conducting armed operations against any country.”

India's Envoy Meets Taliban, Flags Concerns

India’s Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal on Tuesday, 31 August, had met Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the head of Taliban’s political office in Doha.

The meeting, which was held on the request of the Taliban, took place at the Indian Embassy in Doha.

The External Affairs Ministry, in its press release following the meeting, said: “Ambassador Mittal raised India’s concern that Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner.”

The ministry further said that the discussions in the meeting had focused on safety, security, and the early return of Indians stranded in Afghanistan.

The Taliban representative had indicated that the “these issues would be positively addressed,” the MEA statement had said.

(With inputs from BBC Urdu)