Abdi additionally confronted backlash for sharing varied photographs and movies from her go to to Afghan cities
A journey influencer is going through backlash for “fangirling” over Taliban fighters throughout a visit to Afghanistan, coinciding with a lady’s sentencing to dying by stoning and the continuing denial of primary rights to hundreds of thousands of ladies and women within the nation.
Somali American influencer Marian Abdi, recognized on-line as Geenyada Madow, was criticised for expressing pleasure on Instagram about visiting Afghanistan, calling it a “dream come true,” as reported by Afghan newspaper 8 AM Media.
“This nation is recovering from 40 years of struggle and turmoil. Over the subsequent few days, I’ll share my experiences right here in Afghanistan, together with insights into the folks, the meals, and the general tradition,” Abdi wrote on August 13, alongside a photograph of herself in entrance of an “I coronary heart Afghanistan” signal.
Abdi additionally confronted backlash for sharing varied photographs and movies from her go to to Afghan cities, which highlighted the grim actuality of Afghanistan underneath Taliban rule, the place she was usually the one lady seen alongside male locals.
Criticism intensified after Abdi posted a picture on X, previously Twitter, the place she posed smiling with Taliban members armed with AK-47s. Afghan ladies and activists questioned whether or not Abdi had confronted the Taliban about their therapy of ladies, together with stoning them and barring them from schooling.
Met with the Tali*an 🇦🇫 #Afghanistan#afghan#kabul#travel#explore#viral#viral2024pic.twitter.com/EidJwZ0y0y
— Geenyada Madow (@GeenyadaM) August 18, 2024
“In a time when Afghan women and girls are disadvantaged of their most simple rights, it’s deeply troubling and unacceptable to see somebody like Geenyada Madow, who has gone to Afghanistan and lobbies for the Taliban,” stated Niloofar Naeimi, a human rights activist targeted on Afghan ladies’s points.
“This motion disregards the struggling and ache of hundreds of thousands of Afghan ladies who face oppression and persecution underneath the Taliban’s rule,” Naeimi added.
One other activist, Nilofar Ayoubi, a former chief of the Girls Motion, condemned the influencer’s insensitive behaviour, stating within the 8 AM article, “An Afghan lady has been sentenced to be executed by stoning whereas Miss Madow fangirls over the Taliban.”
“Whereas her go to to Afghanistan and her content material creation about our nation and tradition are extremely appreciated, what just isn’t welcomed, and appalling, is the image she’s portray of the Taliban!” Ayoubi continued.
In one in every of her YouTube movies, Abdi described her interplay with Taliban fighters, admitting she was “tremendous nervous” and noting that she wasn’t allowed to file their dialog.
“I used to be tremendous nervous, I’m confused… the truth that they’d even permit me to speak to them. I could not file our dialog as a result of they would not permit me and my battery died. They requested me the place I’m from as they’ll see I am a foreigner,” Abdi defined in her video.
“I stated I am Somali; they’re like, okay, are you from the West? I stated sure, I am from America. They’re like, okay, welcome,” she recounted.
Abdi additionally claimed that she requested the Taliban why Afghan women and girls had been denied an schooling past sixth grade and obtained combined responses, with one fighter stating, “We’re a brand new nation… new authorities and issues will change… every part takes time.”
Defending her picture with the Taliban on X, Abdi wrote, “I requested for a photograph, and I did take a photograph with them, and I posted it on Twitter, and it is simply outrage – persons are going loopy, [saying] ‘Disgrace on you, you are in opposition to ladies’s rights, ladies’s schooling, ladies’s jobs.'”
“That is not the case – this picture was simply to easily say that is my expertise, that is what I noticed, that is how they handled me,” she stated, including, “I’m for all ladies’s rights and I might like to see someday ladies getting educations and dealing and every part, and I do perceive my privileges, you recognize, however please do not take every part out of context.”
“I am posting so many lovely issues about Afghanistan, the tradition, the folks – do not choose me for one picture,” she concluded.
The Taliban regained management of Afghanistan in 2021, simply weeks earlier than the US was set to finish its troop withdrawal after a pricey two-decade struggle. Since returning to energy, the Taliban has imposed extreme restrictions on ladies, denying them entry to public areas, schooling, jobs, and different primary rights. Regardless of preliminary guarantees of a extra average rule, the Taliban continues to implement harsh punishments, together with public stoning of ladies for adultery.
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