International press review
In the spotlight: in Afghanistan, one year since the Taliban
Audio 05:10
Taliban hold their flag and celebrate the first year of their capture of Kabul, August 15, 2022. © AP / Ebrahim Noroozi
By: Sébastien Duhamel Follow
5 mins
Advertising
Afghanistan, this “
new Middle Ages
”.
That sets the scene and with these words, in Italy,
La Stampa
probably delivers one of the best summaries
of the situation.
“
A year ago, the Taliban took Kabul, restored terror and destroyed civil rights.
Women do not study and disappear from public life, half the population suffers from hunger
”.
Testimony in
The Independent
in Great Britain: “
We were afraid that things would go wrong, but not to this point
”.
The fate of women is of particular concern
Dark picture
also painted by
La Repubblica
.
Two days after the repression with live ammunition of a women's demonstration in Kabul, the Italian newspaper explains to us why "
the question of fundamental rights and individual freedoms is one of the most burning and painful subjects for the population, especially for Afghan women
”.
Why haven't they had access to education for 300 days?
Well, because “
the Taliban and extremist religious groups in general are afraid of women's awareness and awakening
,” it reads.
Because "
in a society where women are more aware and attentive, it is easier to resist group conditioning and the pressure of extremists on family members.
This is why the Taliban oppose the education of women
”.
Lessons to be learned from the Afghan case
And some newspapers still deplore the way this Afghan crisis was handled.
In Spain,
El Mundo
points out that a year later
, "
Europeans continue to learn from it
".
After the surprise of the American departure, the European Union now “
seeks its strategic autonomy in a volatile and unpredictable world
”, analyzes the daily.
In Canada,
The Globe and Mail
estimates that a year later, “
Afghans feel betrayed and fear for their lives
”.
The daily deplores that the military interpreters were "
beaten while waiting for help from Ottawa
".
Those applying for refugee status are “
frustrated with immigration barriers, lack of response ,”
The Globe and Mail
further explains
.
So much so that a retired major-general wonders, "
What's wrong with our Canadian bureaucracy
?"
".
Germany has taken in more than 15,700 Afghans, having worked for Berlin or members of their families, the
Frankfurter Allgemeine
tells us
, but the government says it wants to "
take in thousands of additional Afghans
" and "
blames the Taliban
» the slowness of the process.
An editorial in the
Frankfurter
calls for “
helping Afghanistan
” on the spot.
“
After the withdrawal of Western troops and donors, the Afghan economy collapsed.
Emergency humanitarian aid and a minimum of development projects should [therefore] offer a perspective again
”.
After a year of Taliban rule,
the suffering of the population has reached such a level that the world must not look away, but must act
,” urges the
Frankfurter Allgemeine
.
The roots of the attack on Salman Rushdie
Also on newsstands was the assassination attempt on Salman Rushdie, stabbed on Friday August 12.
The author of The
Satanic Verses
is doing better.
“
He still has a sense of humor
,”
headlines
The Times
.
The English newspaper thus relays the words of the writer's son, "
relieved
" of course.
But the road to recovery will be long, says
The Guardian
, which
displays on the front page the words of Margaret Atwood
, the Canadian writer, known in particular for her novel
The Scarlet Handmaiden
(the youngest know at least her serial adaptation).
This case shows, in her view, that
if we do not defend freedom of expression, we live in tyranny
”.
L'Orient-Le-Jour
, for its part, puts us in perspective and
plunges us into the roots of this assassination attempt
with a small leap in time.
He explains to us how the Middle East “
changed face and trajectory in 1979
”, with the Iranian revolution and the birth of the Islamic republic.
L'Orient-Le-Jour
explains to us how Ayatollah Khomeini's Shiite Islam sought to impose itself against Sunni Islam.
This "
expansionist logic
" helps us to understand in particular the birth of Hezbollah in 1982, but also why, in 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini raised a fatwa on Salman Rushdie, "
in a desire to impose itself as a spiritual reference beyond the Shiite world
".
Salman Rushdie is therefore "
the victim of a competition which must determine who is the most rigorous and the most legitimate in enforcing the divine word
", analyzes
L'Orient-Le-Jour
.
For the first time in history, he said, Islamism had become "
a global issue
".
The Rushdie affair "
changed the game
": "
for a writing, for a drawing, for a thought, anyone and wherever they come from can become the target of a call for murder ordered by a movement claiming to be radical Islam.
Globalization knows no bounds and Islamism is no exception
.
75 years of independence in India
Another subject on newsstands: India is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its independence.
The Indian press obviously made its front page.
The Pioneer
for example, in its paper version, just above an Airbus ad wishing a happy independence day to the Indians.
It displays the words of Indian President Droupadi Murmu who spoke for the occasion, as tradition dictates.
"
India has helped the world to discover the true potential of democracy
", retains
The Pioneer
in particular .
The Hindu
also retains its message launched to defend Indian democracy, criticized.
In the United States, 75 years after independence,
the
New York Times
plunges back into the consequences of the “bloody partition” of India and Pakistan
.
And if the "
ghosts
" of this partition "
fade
", writes the
New York Times
, the turn of the relationship can be worrying.
"
Over the decades, nationalist fervor and mutual distrust have largely replaced memories of the deaths and mass displacement that marked the chaotic separation
" of the two countries.
A page of history that is not completely turned.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_EN
Afghanistan
Taliban
Newspaper
Terrorism
Literature
Islam
India
Pakistan