Maggie Holderer, Junior
The Taliban have taken over Afghanistan once again, and their views have not changed.
When the Taliban first took over Afghanistan in 1996, they banished women to their homes, banned music and most sports, had adulterers publicly stoned, had the hands of thieves cut off, and hanged criminals publicly. For those who did not follow the laws, merciless punishments would follow. Anything that did not fit into their nearsighted interpretation of Sharia became prey. This included blowing up the centuries-old statues of Buddhas of Bamiyan because they saw it as art depicting the human form, which they consider to be an insult to God.
The Taliban came from a deeply conservative part of Afghanistan, where religious purity outweighed anything like education, technology, discussion, or simply the idea of choice. Their first reign was marked by human rights violations, massacres, and rape. Even after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, the country was still marked as insurgent and various human rights violations still occurred, so what is to say that the second reign will not be the same?
The Taliban took power in Afghanistan again in August of 2021. They believe that they defeated America, which is significantly empowering to them, and they also believe that their victory was God-given. Khalil Haqqani, a minister in the provisional government, said that their aim was to “create a pure Islamic government in Afghanistan, a government which is centered on justice and whose laws are divine.” Initially, some international spectators thought that Taliban 2.0 was going to be different, thinking that they realized that they could not govern with solely fears and bans.
The Afghan people, however, remained very skeptical, as they knew how the Taliban would actually act and what their true intentions were. As time passes, people are coming to the realization that the only thing that the Taliban have changed is their ability to lie to the international community on social media and other public outlets.
Initially, it did seem as though Taliban 2.0 was going to be better. They promoted moderation, promises of living “peacefully,” and women’s rights. Their spokesman said “inclusive” and they let many soldiers go home, rather than having them killed. Pardon was promised for all of their adversaries. Suhail Shaheen, who is now the Taliban’s proposed envoy to the United Nations, told CNN that they would allow girls to be educated up to university age. There were promised talks with former President Hamid Karzai and the former Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.
As of February 2022, Taliban 2.0 has not been living up to their promises. The Taliban are not allowing their citizens to live “peacefully” by any means, as mass human rights violations continue to mount and their tyrannic grip continues to tighten. There have also been no pardons or forgiveness whatsoever. The UN says that it has received credible reports that the Taliban have been killing citizens as well as hundreds of former Afghanistan security personnel. Taliban 2.0 have also failed to live up to their promise of giving girls the education they deserve. Most primary schools for girls are closed and tertiary education for girls remains completely banned. Moreover, they have failed on their promise to include women’s rights as a whole on their government agenda. The Ministry for Women became the Ministry for the Protection of Virtue and women have been banned from traveling more than 72 kilometers from their home without a male relative. Additionally, they have banned the majority of female government workers from working, which resulted in a workforce restriction, which then resulted in economic losses of $1 billion. Protests were suppressed and banned unless they were cleared by the Ministry of Interior. The talks with Karzai and Abdullah quickly vanished into thin air.
Another big thing the Taliban did that was seen as a step in the right direction by the international community was releasing a decree saying that a woman is a “noble and free human being,” and that she should not be forced into marriage. But by looking closer at that decree, one can also note that in it, the Taliban also authorized their ability to determine whether or not a woman consented to marriage.
Similar to their last regime, the Taliban have limited the flow of information to try to hide the human rights violations going on in Afghanistan on their behalf. They are making journalists in Afghanistan follow their guidelines as well as their “11 journalism rules.” These rules forbid journalists from publishing anything “contrary to Islam” or that “insult national figures.” 40% of Afghanistan’s media sources have shut down, 6,400 journalists have lost their jobs (many of which have left the country), and violence against the media in general and journalists has yet again become widespread.
Sources: https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/14/asia/taliban-then-and-now-intl-cmd/index.html
https://theconversation.com/taliban-2-0-arent-so-different-from-the-first-regime-after-all-173394
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/11/i-wondered-whether-a-bullet-had-my-name-on-it-my-terrifying-24-hour-journey-out-of-afghanistan
https://theconversation.com/taliban-2-0-arent-so-different-from-the-first-regime-after-all-173394
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