In a provocative statement, renowned Bollywood lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar has criticized the Taliban's newly implemented penal code in Afghanistan, which significantly undermines women's rights and grants husbands the legal authority to physically discipline their wives, provided they do not fracture any bones. Akhtar highlights the severe restrictions placed on women's mobility, including harsh penalties for leaving their homes without permission from their husbands. This development has sparked wide outrage, drawing attention to the deteriorating status of women's rights under Taliban rule.

Akhtar took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to express his alarm over these disturbing regulations, calling them a legal sanction for domestic violence. He emphasized how the Taliban's measures have effectively stripped women of their autonomy, reducing them to a status almost akin to that of slaves. His fervent appeal extends not only to the Taliban but also to religious leaders in India, urging them to raise their voice against such injustices being perpetrated in the name of religion.

By questioning the silence of Indian clerics in the face of these abuses, Akhtar highlights a perceived complicity or indifference among religious leaders towards the plight of women under such oppressive regimes. His statements have called for an urgent and unequivocal denunciation of these laws, urging a collective stand against the horrific practices endorsed by the Taliban, which he believes all members of society, especially those in positions of moral authority, should vocally oppose.