The Taliban factions of Afghanistan have ultimately got what they had been fighting for ever since their government collapsed in 2001 following the US-led NATO invasion to take revenge for sheltering Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, accused to have been the mastermind behind the nine eleven terrorist strikes on New York’s twin trade towers and the Pentagon in Washington. The US-supported government in Kabul collapsed like a house of cards with its executive head, President Ashraf Ghani, fleeing from the country to prevent his capture by the triumphant Taliban.
Most probably, he could have met the fate of former Soviet Union-backed Afghanistan President Mohammad Najibullah, captured in 1992 by the Mujahideen from the UN compound in Kabul where he had taken refuge after losing power following the end of Soviet support in 1991. The enraged Mujahideen not only killed him, but also dragged his body in the streets of Kabul before it was hung from an electric pole to send across the message that this is the fate of the rulers who are disliked by people but survive with the support of foreign forces.
However, this is a conjectural viewpoint. Somehow, Afghanistan has not witnessed such a gory development this time because wisdom seems to have dawned on the Taliban Mark-2 and they, extremists in the eyes of the world, have become smarter after having committed blunders after blunders during their earlier rule in 1996-2001 when they allowed power to go into their head. They were then inexperienced in running a government and, therefore, failed to realise that with power come responsibilities too. Their conduct bordered on extremism, having little to do with their religion – Islam – which stands for peace and justice, showing utmost respect for humanitarian values.
The Taliban leadership today must realise that this time it faces an additional problem of making the world forget its controversial past, too scary to be easily ignored. The Taliban’s conduct after capturing Kabul on August 15 provides proof that they are conscious of this ugly reality. They made a declaration of general amnesty, reminding one and all, time and again, that no one should fear for any kind of retaliatory action as human rights of all, including women and minorities, will be fully safeguarded.
The new rulers of what they called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan included in their declaration some other positive points too.
One, the people of Afghanistan should rest assured that their life, dignity and property will be fully protected and efforts will be made to create a peaceful environment.
Two, those associated with the Taliban movement have been warned that they should be very careful about the national finances and should protect the country’s infrastructure like government buildings, bridges, parks and roads.
Three, those who have worked for the defunct government will not be harmed as they have been forgiven for their past actions. The people who have been working for different departments of the government like health and education should continue their activities as usual.
Four, private property of citizens will remain safe and unharmed.
Five, no Taliban activist should cause scare among people by entering anyone else’s house on any pretext.
Six, traders and other businessmen have been advised to continue their activities without any fear.
Seven, neighbouring countries particularly have been assured that no harm would come to them from Afghanistan and their diplomatic and other embassy staff’s life, dignity and property will be fully protected.
Eight, defence and civil defence personnel who have worked for the previous government have been assured that the new government is preparing a plan to make use of their experience if they decide to serve the government of new Afghanistan.
Now comes the question of implementing the promises made. The Taliban leadership, too, must be knowing it well that it is easier saying than doing. Once the Taliban government starts functioning, the world community would like to know whether there will be a proper constitution to run the administration, whether there will be a system of elections and how serious the new rulers are about the economic reconstruction of Afghanistan. Since they have already declared that the new government in Kabul will function in accordance with the Islamic Shariat laws, they may need to have some kind of an arrangement for the purpose. Who will be included in this arrangement will be interesting to watch. However, if the government shuns the path of elections, it will run the risk of being described as another dictatorship constituted by taking the fair name of Islam.
The next best option for the Taliban to earn the confidence of the global community would be to fully concentrate on the reconstruction of their war-ravaged country. Since they are known to be against the cultivation of poppy, which serves as the raw material for making heroin and some other intoxicants, an otherwise illegal activity, a large number of Afghans will lose their source of earning. Therefore, the new government will have to immediately launch programmes for generating employment opportunities for such people as well as other job-seekers.
According to statistics provided by the World Bank, the unemployment rate in Afghanistan in 2020 was 17.4 per cent. However, the figures provided by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in December
2018, show that Afghanistan had the highest unemployment rate in the world – around 30 per cent. The ILO head in Afghanistan, Manzoor Khaliq, then expressed the view that unemployment was one of the reasons for the growing feeling of insecurity among the public.
Experts believe the best way to effectively tackle the unemployment problem is to encourage youngsters to start their own business establishments. The government can help them in various ways.
There is a need to focus on health and education also as the condition of both sectors is too pitiable to be described in words. There are only 3,000 healthcare facilities, including 100 full-fledged hospitals, in a country having a population of over 3.8 crores. The adult literacy percentage in 2018 was 43 per cent, but, separately, it was 55 per cent for men and only 29.8 per cent for women. The situation is unlikely to have improved much since then.
According to an estimate made in 2017, Afghanistan is floating on at least $3 trillion mineral wealth which includes fossil fuel, lithium, iron, copper, cobalt and rare-earth. These details are contained in a report prepared in 2010 by US experts, but much of this natural wealth has remained untouched owing to the country remaining involved in wars for a long time. Afghanistan is estimated to have no less lithium deposits (used in manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles) than Bolivia, the world’s biggest supplier.
These natural resources can help Afghanistan transform its economic face only when its new rulers shun the path of extremism and concentrate on establishing peace and stability with a view to intelligently dealing with the world. Running the country responsibly is possible only when there is a policy to have friendly relations with any country that shows genuine interest in Afghanistan’s overall development. The new government must devise policies, keeping this necessity in view.
[The writer is a senior journalist and columnist based in New Delhi.]