Anupama Nair
In August 2015, the Taliban admitted they had hidden the news of Mullah Omar's death, reportedly of health problems at a hospital in Pakistan for more than two years. The following month, the group said it had put aside weeks of infighting and rallied around a new leader Mullah Mansour, who had been the deputy of Mullah Omar. Around the same time, the Taliban seized control of a provincial capital for the first time since their defeat in 2001, taking control of the strategically important city of Kunduz.
Mansour was killed in a US drone strike in May 2016 and replaced by his deputy Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, who remains in control of the group. Despite grave concerns from Afghan officials over the government’s vulnerability to the Taliban without international support, the new US president, Joe Biden, announced in April 2021 that all American forces would leave the country by 11 September, two decades to the day since the World Trade Center incident.
It was the moment the Taliban was waiting for. The Taliban began seizing vast territory, threatening to once again topple a government in Kabul in the wake of the withdrawal of a superpower. The group is now, thought to be stronger in numbers than in 2001, with up to 85,000 full-time fighters, NATO sources confirmed.
After the American forces left, the Taliban, who occupied the whole of Afghanistan at lightning speed, announced Afghanistan’s Independence Day on 12th August 2021. The insurgents took control of the capital city of Kabul on 15th August, after the previous government backed by the United States fell and Ashraf Ghani had to flee the country.
Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi stated “the propaganda by former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani’s government against the Taliban has proven to be false as they declared a general amnesty across the war-torn country and also said there will be no ban on the education of girls”. All that remains to be seen.
In fact, a Taliban representative Enamullah Samangani stated the Taliban announced amnesty across the country and urged women to join their government. “The Islamic Emirate doesn’t want women to be victims, adding that they didn’t want women to be victims and they should be in government structure as per the Shariah law”.
The militants are now trying to reorganize themselves in a more moderate mould, “promising amnesty for their enemies, vowing to build an inclusive government with various ethnic groups, keep terrorist groups off Afghan soil and allowing women to work within the bounds of Shariah law”. These were, are all the conditions set by the US and its allies to recognize the group as the legitimate new rulers of Afghanistan. But Afghans and the global community have been sceptical of these promises made by the Taliban, as they remembered the reign of terror before the US forces arrived in Kabul.
However as per US media, “Taliban fighters are patrolling the streets with armed weapons, looking for ex-government staff. Women are being beaten up for not wearing a burqa in a public place. Taliban fighters forcibly entered houses and beat women to death over refusal to cook food for the fighters”. There are “images of women forcibly been covered up or vandalized on storefronts or beauty salons in Kabul”, which is clearly a sign of the Afghan capital’s rapidly changing face in the days since the Taliban took charge.
There are also reports that “after the Taliban's advance unwed women and widows were being forcibly married to terrorists”. However, the Taliban spokesman dismissed reports as ‘poisonous propaganda’ by the international media. Many demonstrations have been staged in cities around the world in support of Afghan civilians, mostly for women and girls.
The United States, European Union and other countries have issued a joint statement to say they were “deeply worried about Afghan women and girls” and urged the new regime to ensure their safety. The US media quoted a woman who owned a salon “that she expected to be forced to shutter her business if the Taliban returned to power. If they come back, we'll never have the freedom we have now. They don't want women working”.
Meanwhile, most countries of the world have started evacuating their citizens safe. India has already sent IAF planes to bring back our citizens. Let us hope the Taliban do not let loose a reign of terror and treat women safely.
Well written article.