by Sidiqullah Sahel 18 January 2022
The geo-strategic location of Afghanistan has always proved a curse, rather than a blessing for its residents. The country has always been a focal point for invaders in order to follow their imperialist ventures, which resulted in different wars and conflicts in the history of Afghanistan. Since the country has confronted the superpowers of the time, it is considered as the graveyard of empires. Thomas Barfield (The famous anthropologist and expert of Afghanistan affairs), contends the argument by stating that until 1840 Afghanistan was better known as a highway of conquest, rather than a graveyard of empire, as it always remained as part of some empire. The country was dominated by Alexander the great between 330-327 BC, the name of Kandahar is derived from Alexandria. The Mauryan Empire of India gained control of southern Afghanistan, which brought Buddhism to Afghanistan. After that, it was ruled by nomadic Kushans, and Sassanians of Iran. After that, it was conquered by Muslims, and Muslim empires were established here too. In the 15th Century, it fell into the hands of Irani Safavid, which were defeated by Mirwais Khan in 1721. Mughals also passed through Afghanistan, and most of them stayed here. Finally, in 1747 Ahmad Shah Abdali established his own empire and recognized it as Afghanistan.
In the last hundred years, Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States of America all attempted of subjugating the country, but the indomitable nature of the territory compelled them to succumb. While history has always recorded the incidents with the victories of Afghans, it somehow ignored the cost that the country and its people have paid for. Kabul was burnt in retaliation for British soldiers who were killed in Anglo-Afghan wars. Post-Soviet Invasion, Afghanistan became a hub for Jihadists from across the Globe, and the war resulted in civilian casualties of more than a million, and around five million refugees.
Recently the United States of America ended the longest war of its history, by leaving Afghanistan on 31st August 2021, and their contenders “Taliban” entered Kabul city on 15th August 2021. The drawdown of US forces from Afghanistan, and capturing Kabul city forcefully has created a jubilant feeling amongst Taliban fighters, irrespective of knowing the consequences of their actions. It has been more than five months since the group has acquired power in Afghanistan, and they are fully committed to implementing what they were fighting for, hence a major change can be seen in the government structure of the country. The national flag of Afghanistan has been replaced by the white flag of the religious group, the name of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has been transformed to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and all government offices are filled by Taliban leadership, who imposed restrictions on working women and on individual liberties.
On the other hand, people of Afghanistan are concerned about their fate and their future, as with the arrival of the Taliban, the previous government machinery has completely shattered, the banking sector is on the verge of collapse, teachers and government employees have not received their full salaries, Public universities and girls’ schools are yet to open, as the government does not have enough funds available to reopen the universities and is planning to end coed. More importantly, the common people are going through a harsh winter, which will hard hit the poor. According to a United Nations report, with the emergence of the Taliban in the last five months, 8.7 million Afghans are on the brink of starvation.
Around 43000 civilians working in the previous government’s administration and Army officers have been unemployed, who are compelled to work as street vendors, selling either soup, vegetables, and have become mobile workers, and have been hit hard by economic hardships. On the other hand, due to the closure of borders with the neighboring countries, the trade of Afghanistan has been affected miserably, which resulted in soaring prices of food items, and is not in access of the poor. The poor have been compelled to sell Household items in order to maintain their livelihood.
The only area in which the Taliban were given credit was the security sector, as common people believed that the war in the country would end, which will end the forty years of bloodshed in the country. But, the optimism did not last long, and some provinces of the country witnessed some major attacks by the “Islamic State” aka Daesh on the Shiite community. Taliban government could neither receive the internal legitimacy and support of the people domestically, nor they succeed in convincing the international community to recognize their government and cooperate with the new government, as recognition also depends on internal legitimacy. Now, if the Taliban are really looking forward to international recognition, internal legitimacy is a must for the group, and that can be achieved by convening “Loya Jirga.”
Since the new ruling party is facing problems with its legitimacy and international recognition; the International community is reluctant to liaison with them. The United States of America has seized around $9.5 billion reserves of Da Afghanistan Bank. United Nations, UNDP, World Bank have all closed their ongoing projects in the country, which has affected not only the newly emerged government but the common people of Afghanistan; especially the middle class and government employees. In order to overcome the chaotic situation, the USA, UN, and the international community must step forward to ameliorate the existing order. The world should directly engage with the people of Afghanistan and negotiate with the Taliban for providing humanitarian assistance to the people, reopening schools and universities, assisting in providing the salaries of government employees, and also arranging aid for the daily wage laborers. The socio-economic and security situation in the country is dire, and failing to respond on time may cause disturbances not only domestically, but on regional and global levels through the influx of migrations and brain drain from the country. Also, it is the moral responsibility of each neighboring country to stand by the people of Afghanistan in a difficult time, and do not leave it to the mercy of the state of nature. More importantly, neighboring countries should really think of reopening their borders, and easing the transit rules and visa processing for Afghan nationals, as thousands of students have been stranded in the country, due to travel restrictions. The socio-economic impasse in Afghanistan is not in the benefit of any country, and the people of the country will not be able to confront it solely, since the problem is more on a regional and international level, rather than domestic, hence the international community should join hands to overcome this.