the us and south korea have carried outjoint military exercises over the waters around the korean peninsula. now on bbc news, it s hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. taliban rule was re established in afghanistan almost a year ago. for afghans, it s meant the return of repressive religious authoritarianism and new levels of economic impoverishment. the mullahs seem ready to absorb indefinite isolation to reimpose their orthodoxy. but is that a sustainable strategy? my guest is fawzia koofi, former deputy speaker of the afghan parliament, now a democracy activist in exile. is there any glimmer of light in afghanistan s darkness? fawzia koofi, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it s good to be with you. well, it s great to have you in this studio. i m sure you wish you were speaking to me from kabul, from afghanistan, but you have been in exile since the taliban returned to power. how difficult for you is that separation from your country? extremely difficult. i ne
to absorb indefinite isolation to re impose their orthodoxy. but is that a sustainable strategy? my guest is fawzia koofi, former deputy speaker of the afghan parliament, now a democracy activist in exile. is there any glimmer of light in afghanistan s darkness? fawzia koofi, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it s good to be with you. well, it s great to have you in this studio. i m sure you wish you were speaking to me from kabul, from afghanistan, but you have been in exile since the taliban returned to power. how difficult for you is that separation from your country? extremely difficult. i never actually wished, i never hoped, to leave the country that gave me the identity, a country that i did not only invest my time, but i invested my blood to make it a better country for everyone. it has been a very difficult decision for me to leave afghanistan. i actually was in kabulfor a few weeks after the taliban takeover with the hope that things will get to a situation where we c
Former chairperson of afghanistans independent human rights commission. What would morally acceptable engagement look like . Shaharzad akbar, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you. Its good to be here. Its good to have you here. If i may, im going to start with some powerful words of yours. You wrote recently, i spend every day with a fire burning in my heart with the pain of injustice that women in my country face. Of course, since the taliban takeover, youre no longer living in your homeland youre living here in the uk. Does that actually, in a funny sort of way, intensify the pain you feel . Absolutely. I mean, every day, ifeel like im living two different realities at the same time. I wake up in oxford, where im a visiting scholar, and its green and beautiful and people are going on about their lives. And then, im all day long following the situation back home, talking to colleagues, monitoring the human rights violations. And during the day, several times, i have to kind of stop myself a
My guest is shaharzad akbar, former chairperson of afghanistans independent human rights commission. What would morally acceptable engagement look like . Shaharzad akbar, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you. Its good to be here. Its good to have you here. If i may, im going to start with some powerful words of yours. You wrote recently, i spend every day with a fire burning in my heart with the pain of injustice that women in my country face. Of course, since the taliban takeover, youre no longer living in your homeland youre living here in the uk. Does that actually, in a funny sort of way, intensify the pain you feel . Absolutely. I mean, every day, ifeel like im living two different realities at the same time. I wake up in oxford, where im a visiting scholar, and its green and beautiful and people are going on about their lives. And then, im all day long following the situation back home, talking to colleagues, monitoring the human rights violations. And during the day, several times, i
My guest is shaharzad akbar, former chairperson of afghanistans independent human rights commission. What would morally acceptable engagement look like . Shaharzad akbar, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you. Its good to be here. Its good to have you here. If i may, im going to start with some powerful words of yours. You wrote recently, i spend every day with a fire burning in my heart with the pain of injustice that women in my country face. Of course, since the taliban takeover, youre no longer living in your homeland. Youre living here in the uk. Does that actually, in a funny sort of way, intensify the pain you feel . Absolutely. I mean, every day i feel like im living two different realities at the same time. I wake up in oxford, where im a visiting scholar and its green and beautiful and people are going on about their lives. And then im all day long following the situation back home, talking to colleagues, monitoring the human rights violations. And during the day, several times, i h