The New Taliban

The Great Game has been played for decades in Afghanistan and has always left behind chaos, confusion, uncertainty and instability. The region has never had a stable government that can bring peace and stability both within and outside. For instance, from the 1979 invasion of the Soviets to the recent withdrawal of America and its western forces contributing to some kind of stability in Afghanistan, remained a huge question. With the resurgence of the Taliban in 2021, the Western states via media outlets have raised their concern that will the Taliban this time succeed in governing Afghanistan? To address their concern it is vital to understand if there is any difference between the Taliban 20 years back and the Taliban this time around.

To reflect on both versions, the earlier Taliban can be said to have been immature in their approach towards government formation, governance mechanisms and the conduct of politics. They were fresh graduates from madrassas - trained under the leadership of CIA specialised trainers. They were prepared as extremists to eliminate the Soviet forces from Afghanistan with the use of force, torture, killing, bloodshed, bombing, suicide attempts, etc. Their agenda was only to defeat the Soviet Union. They were tasked with achieving a larger goal and for that trained on extreme lines to use highly skilled weaponry. But, they were not trained to engage at political and diplomatic levels. Their interaction was limited to madrassas or training camps. The Taliban this time are not tasked to defeat any state or group but work towards the liberation of their motherland from foreign occupation. They are educated mostly in western countries, engaged politically and diplomatically with the world powers and have sat on the negotiation table like any other sovereign state with America in Doha to get their share in politics. This is not what the Taliban were able to experience earlier. The Taliban 20 years later are different from the earlier Taliban in their outlook towards politics in Afghanistan and the world.

In terms of their approach towards the civilian population, the Taliban in the 90s were harsh and their war tools and ideology were extreme. When they came to power then, they used hard measures on the entire Afghan population, particularly young girls and women. They restricted the females from seeking worldly education and emphasized on madrassa’s hardcore training that never allowed them to learn about what was happening around them. The Taliban have learnt over the years, that seeking worldly education is not a curse but important for all, irrespective of gender. They bring along western education and exposure to the world and are expected to apply the same set of skills in Afghanistan.