Pakistan Taliban accuses International Women’s Day organizers of blasphemy, obscenity News
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Pakistan Taliban accuses International Women’s Day organizers of blasphemy, obscenity

The Pakistani Taliban on Friday accused International Women’s Day organizers of blasphemy and obscenity, threatening them with vigilante action in response to the proliferation of doctored images and video clips suggesting that participants in the demonstrations had insulted Islam.

International Women’s Day is annually celebrated on March 8. In Pakistan, women’s right advocates organized demonstrations to mark the event. However, edited images and videos of the Friday demonstrations were spread on social media by accounts with large followings. The images and videos were edited to show the demonstrators participating in activities considered insulting to Islam, including chanting slogans.

In response to the videos, the Pakistani Taliban released a statement aimed at “those organisations who are actively spreading obscenity and vulgarity” in Pakistan. The Taliban threatened the demonstration organizers with vigilante action, writing that the organizers needed to “[f]ix [their] ways, there are still many young Muslims here who know how to protect Islam and the boundaries set by Allah.”

Along with the statement from the Taliban, Islamic groups have also demanded that the government prosecute the organizers for blasphemy, a charge which carries the death penalty in Pakistan.

The organizers have denied the allegations, deeming them as “part of a malicious campaign to silence women from speaking out about their rights.”