In response to a US State Department report on religious freedom, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that "the religious and civil rights of all minorities in Afghanistan are protected". Taking to Twitter on Sunday, the spokesman claimed that the State Department's report findings on Afghanistan with respect to the religious freedom is "incomplete" and based on "false information", reports Khaama Press. "All our Sunnis, Shias, Sikhs and Hindus practice their religion freely," he added.
According to the State Department, China, Pakistan, Iran, Russia, Myanmar, and India have witnessed "gross violation" of religious freedom in 2022. According to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, after the Taliban took over Afghanistan last August, the group's basic rights for women and girls were infringed, and the regime's ideological constraints hampered women and girls' liberties. Blinken also said that after the Taliban took power, the groundwork was laid for the Islamic State (IS) terror group to operate in Afghanistan, and that religious minorities, particularly the thousands of Afghans, were under threat from the Taliban.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom previously told the State Department to place Afghanistan at the bottom of religious freedom rankings, Khaama Press reported. In terms of religious freedom, the committee called the Taliban's coming to power a "disaster" for Afghanistan. The Taliban, on the other hand, claims that all religious rights are in place and reserved.