Our Taliban problem

A proxy, once given covert state patronage for our perceived strategic interests, celebrated as a symbol of resistance against the West, lauded by wider society for being our David fighting a holy war against Goliath, defended for its distinction from the ‘bad Taliban’ (those attacking Pakistan), and hailed for breaking the ‘shackles of slavery’ has arguably now become our biggest national security threat.

The confident reassurance offered over a cup of tea after the Taliban’s 2021 takeover – 'Don't worry, everything will be okay' – now seems like a wishful thought, one that has cost the lives of hundreds of our soldiers, with no end in sight.

What better way to describe our current conundrum than that the 'chickens are coming home to roost'. We were told they are different this time – that the misogynist, Bamiyan-destroying, education-hostile group has changed. But today, after being forced to wake up from our slumber, we are finding them as parochial as they were in the 90s and more hostile to us, leaving us with an existential crisis.

As we linger with this issue, time demands we put our heads together to explore options other than using fire and jet missiles. Do we have anything else in our deck?

The last military escalation with the Taliban forces established Pakistan’s military domination not within days but hours, forcing the Afghan Taliban to jump for a ceasefire in negotiations brokered by Qatar and Turkiye. But there still remain doubts over the durability of the ceasefire, given that a dominant group within the Afghan Taliban aligns itself with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan at the cost of their relations with Pakistan, based on a calculated perception that shouldering with the TTP far outweighs any potential repercussions for the militant group.

The gunfire and mediation may offer a temporary respite, but they do not carry enough weight to pressure the Afghan Taliban into changing their course.

The situation is clear to us: there remains no distinction between the Afghan Taliban and TTP in their hostility towards Pakistan. If one group is pulling the trigger, the other is providing the shoulder to place the gun. Throughout all of this, the world either remains a silent spectator, urging both sides to exercise restraint, or quietly removes the word ‘border’ from the latest agreement. To put it simply, we are in a situation where carrots are not working because they don’t like having them. Now, let’s focus on how to give them the stick beyond military actions.

This is not to say that we should holster our guns, but rather to explore what more we can do given the fact that military strikes have limitations.

Our major policy gap in this ongoing crisis with the Afghan Taliban is that while we are using all military and diplomatic pressure on the Taliban, for some strange reason, we have not explored creating pressure on the Taliban through the local Afghan voices and via the diaspora.

Pakistan lacks goodwill within Afghan society. The general perception in Afghanistan that it is in Pakistan’s interest to impose the Taliban on the Afghan people needs to change.

At a time when the Afghan Taliban have imposed a shameful ban on women’s education and considered permanently shutting down internet all over the country, there remains virtually no space for freedom of expression. IN this case, Pakistan should assume its moral responsibility to launch a strong campaign against the regime on all international forums by standing with the Afghan citizens.

The state policy here should be clear: Shame the Taliban, condemn them, promote the progressive Afghan voices, engage with the non-Pashtun elements to create confidence-building measures, set a narrative that Afghanistan under the Taliban is a pariah state being run by men on the barrel of a gun. We can also urge the international community to collectively build pressure for free and fair polls so that the Afghans can choose their elected government.

The state of Pakistan should hold official events with representatives of Afghan civil society, including women, children and refugees, to amplify their voices to people across Pakistan and the world.

Today, the world is dismissing our legitimate concerns, assuming that it is Islamabad’s representatives who have gone rogue. However, advocating for a pro-Afghan people narrative on the international stage would provide Pakistan with the leverage to lead a significant global campaign, with allies on all sides. An anti-Taliban narrative is notably absent on the global stage. A narrative that not only condemns the Taliban for allowing their soil to be used for cross-border terrorism but also emphasises their anti-human policies that oppress Afghan society – where women and children remain the primary victims – would foster goodwill both within Afghanistan and among its diaspora.

Amplifying an anti-Taliban narrative on the international stage will undoubtedly be more complex than it may appear on paper. The Afghan Taliban, with the support of New Delhi, would argue that Pakistan is interfering in Afghanistan's internal affairs. In the worst-case scenario, they may even publicly harbor proscribed terror outfits within Afghanistan in response to our actions. However, despite these challenges, our narrative will prevail, given that we will be seen standing with Afghan society, while the Taliban align themselves with internationally designated terrorists.

The Afghan Taliban are not just a military force but the representation of an idea that doesn’t recognise borders; military strikes can put them on the backfoot but will not challenge their ideological foundations, which prioritises their ideological brethren TTP over Pakistan’s legitimate interests. To deal with that, it is important that the state of Pakistan, complemented with its military power, should also have its own anti-Taliban counter-narrative, complemented with Afghan voices for the country and the international community, given through brave religious scholars, public intellectuals and influencers.

Where brute force is required, we strike without hesitation; where reason is needed, we have a narrative to counter them.

The writer is a journalist.