Two years of the Taliban

It has been two years now to the Afghan Taliban taking over Afghanistan. It has also been two years of a country in limbo, its human rights in jeopardy, its economic state in shambles, and its diplomatic status unclear. Yesterday marked the second anniversary of the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, after the US and Nato withdrawal from a war-town country that was left to fend for itself. The people of Afghanistan have suffered the most for decades – from the Soviet invasion to the Soviet jihad, from the US invasion after 9/11 to the sudden withdrawal of the Western forces, and now the Afghan Taliban taking over. In the process, Afghanistan has lost many both to the war and to refugee status. There were those that left their country and moved to Pakistan as refugees because of the Soviet invasion, others moved after the US invasion and some more fled to Pakistan after the Taliban took over in 2021. According to the UN refugee agency, about 600,000 Afghans came to Pakistan out of about 1.6 million Afghans who left their country after the Taliban came back to power. The crisis in Afghanistan however stays the only constant. The world has as yet not recognized the Afghan government because it has not shown any commitment to changing its policies regarding women, minorities and other marginalized communities. The country’s relations with its neighbours is also not great, particularly Pakistan, due to the issue of cross-border terrorism.

When the Afghan Taliban took power again in 2021, they had assured the world community that they would adopt moderate policies this time around. However, they have gone back to their old ways. Girls’ secondary schools were closed and women were banned from universities, making the lives of Afghan women difficult. Women have also been banned from working for NGOs, there are travel restrictions in place for women, they have been banned from some public spaces as well and beauty salons were also recently closed by the Taliban. Afghan women say they are being erased from everywhere in the country. Minority communities have also been targeted under Taliban rule and the government has done little to protect them. After a suicide attack targeting the Shia minority in Kabul, Amnesty International pointed out that since their takeover of Afghanistan, “the Taliban have done little to put in place any measures for the protection of the public, especially of Shia-Hazaras who have been systematically targeted largely by the Islamic State (IS) in schools, mosques, training centers and public places”. While the world community wants to help the Afghan people, many analysts say that the US also played an important role in the return of the Taliban rule. Today, the Afghans are struggling with poverty, lack of job opportunities, and a government that has withheld their fundamental freedoms.

Pakistan was one of the few countries that had recognized the Afghan Taliban government in the 90s but former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto had said last year that “Pakistan would not want to take a solo flight and would rather pursue this process with international consensus”. The Pakistan government has also had an uneasy relationship with the Afghan Taliban because Afghanistan is providing safe havens to the TTP, which is actively involved in carrying out terrorist attacks on Pakistani soil for the last two years. Despite warnings by the state of Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban continue to feign innocence over the TTP issue. The Afghan people need an end to their suffering. It is incumbent upon the Afghan Taliban to understand that they cannot get legitimacy both at home and around the world if they continue to make their people suffer while also acting as protectors of those who unleash terror on other countries.