Mursal Nabizada, a former Afghan female parliamentarian, was shot dead in her residence in Kabul, the capital city, in the wee hours of Sunday, January 15th 2023. Her brother and bodyguard were also shot dead by unknown assailants.
A critic of the ruling Taliban, Nabizada was 32. Her killing was condemned worldwide by politicians. It has been alleged that the condition of Afghan women has deteriorated since the Taliban usurped power in August 2021 after a two-decade-long war with the US-backed occupation regime.
Mursal Nabizada was one of the few female MPs who decided to remain in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. She did not escape from Afghanistan, unlike several other collaborators of the US-sponsored regimes that ruled the country between 2001 and 2021.
Her former colleagues hailed Nabizada as the ‘fearless champion of Afghanistan’, who refused the chance to leave the country.
Mariam Solaimankhil, a former Afghan lawmaker, said Nabizada was ‘a true trailblazer – a strong, outspoken woman who stood up for what she believed in even in the face of danger.’
Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said that the security forces have launched a serious investigation into the incident. Zadran said they are hopeful of nabbing the culprits.
Mursal Nabizada was elected as a member of parliament from Kabul in 2018 and served in the US-backed government until the Taliban seized power in August 2021.
Nabizada was a US-sponsored Parliamentary Defence Commission member and worked at the Institute for Human Resource Development and Research.
In response to the murder, Member of the European Parliament Hannah Newman said, ‘I am saddened and outraged and want to let the world know!’.
Abdullah Abdullah, a former top official in the erstwhile US-backed government, mourned Nabizada’s death and said he hoped the perpetrators would be punished.
The killing of Nabizada has further unsettled the Taliban administration, which, when it took power in August 2021, had promised to give equal rights to women and strengthen security measures. However, in recent months it has been alleged that the Taliban has begun to backtrack on those promises and are curtailing women’s rights.