Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan without the mandate of the people in 2021, has placed the people of the country in a subservient position subjected to oppression at the hands of the Taliban rulers. The need for the approval of the people, to rule the country, would have forced the Taliban to care for the people and treat them as human beings. The absence of a constitution has created a situation where governance is based on the whims and fancies of the rulers without any moral accountability. Without any mechanism to provide justice to the people, the suffering of the people is endless. It therefore falls on the international community to own the people and initiate appropriate measures to safeguard their interests.
Under the Taliban rule, human rights are constantly trampled, poverty and inequalities are deepening and above anything else, the women and girls are treated as commodities. They are neither dealt with as equals nor allowed to develop themselves. Displacements of people are continuing while terrorists are entering the country with impunity probably supported by the Taliban and their affiliate terror groups. Food insecurity and lack of job opportunities continue to remain a grave concern in Afghanistan today.
The divide and the simmering crisis within the ruling class, the terror groups, and their training camps pose a grave threat to regional security. It demonstrates, yet again, that the collective consciousness of the comity of nations towards the good of Afghanistan and its people is slowly but surely getting eroded. The interactions of the governments of various countries with Afghanistan’s illegitimate government and the induction of Taliban representatives, including Ambassadors, in the Afghan embassies give an impression that the world has become helpless and probably considers the Taliban’s administration more important than the people.
The efforts of the previous elected government led by Ashraf Ghani and its key priorities to initiate development-oriented projects, education, people-oriented governance, mining, manufacturing, trade, and infrastructure development in the last 20 years, though retarded due to terrorism and the American military presence, have now almost come to a standstill and replaced by the Taliban’s oppressive rule. The need for a progressive outlook to prevent strategically located Afghanistan from becoming a terror hub has either been forgotten or given up by various countries for selfish geopolitical interests ignoring the Afghan people.
What are the regional dynamics that aligned with the Taliban’s interest today to supersede the hardships and pain of Afghans? This paradigm shift questions, what made the Taliban so powerful whose cabinet is filled with designated terrorists, and failed to gain international recognition. On what grounds the global community has enabled the Taliban to take up the reign of hard-won gains of Afghanistan in the furtherance of the regressive rule? Nothing can justify the cruelty and incomprehensible oppression unleashed by the Taliban.
Taliban has been manipulative in setting up its terror camps and nourishing them as strategic assets and as a matter of state policy. It funds terror activities beyond its borders. Terrorism is thriving under the Taliban’s control but the world has turned a blind eye to it due to its selfishness. What one needs to understand is that terrorism is an active threat emanating from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. In such a situation, should the Taliban be recognised?
The world watches as a mute spectator without realising that the implications will only bring devastation. In meeting their obligations, the world has failed to act decisively on the Afghan crisis.
Stark Realities of Taliban
A progressive nation is built on equality, justice, and democratic rules. In the last three years, the Taliban has neither shown any leniency to form a people-oriented government and remains far off from drafting and formalising Afghanistan’s constitution despite international appeals.
Since coming to power, the Taliban has dissolved the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commissions, and offices dedicated to the management of parliamentary affairs, as the Afghan parliament has been dismantled.
The de facto authorities lack legitimacy and do not function under the framework of a constitution which makes the government accountable to the Parliament and the people. In the absence of state institutions and legal entities, Afghanistan has turned out to be a terror hub to spread instability and extremist ideologies beyond its borders that cannot be checked or controlled by the people of the country or the international community.
As per the Economic Times article published on October 4, “Security forces have recovered M4 carbine assault rifles from terrorists killed in encounters in Jammu and Kashmir. The weapons left behind by the US Army after their withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 appear to have reached the terrorists through Pakistani handlers.”
Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the Army’s strategic Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, told reporters that efforts were being made to pursue the issue with the US to track such weapons. The Taliban seized the weapons post US forces withdrawal, which left behind around $7 billion worth of military equipment. According to security officials, the same weapons were found in neighbouring Pakistan.
The media reports said the intelligence agencies indicated that the logistics, arms, and ammunition used in the Poonch terror attack last year, which resulted in the death of five soldiers, originated from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
Taliban has been manipulative in setting up its terror camps and nourishing them as strategic assets and as a matter of state policy. It funds terror activities beyond its borders. Terrorism is thriving under the Taliban’s rule but the world has turned a blind eye
Doesn’t the world see the danger posed by American weapons falling into the hands of the Taliban? The world seems to be making a mistake by enabling and engaging with the Taliban.
Taliban’s Regressive Actions
Women’s Rights
In an August 15 press release, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) observed that Afghanistan is the “only country in the world where secondary and higher education is strictly forbidden to girls and women”, with 1.4 million girls deliberately deprived of secondary education since the Taliban took power in 2021.
The Taliban released the “Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice” on August 21, which restricts women from speaking, singing, and showing their faces in public. If countries around the world are under the impression that the Taliban will empower women, it is far from reality.
In June 2024, at the 56th session of the Human Rights Council, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, published his report. He mentioned the “phenomenon of an institutionalised system of discrimination, segregation, disrespect for human dignity and exclusion of women and girls” in Afghanistan. “The Taliban’s institutionalised system of discrimination is most visible through its relentless issuance and enforcement of edicts, decrees, declarations and orders that in and of themselves constitute severe deprivations of human rights and violations of international law,” the report said. Indeed, since the last UN report, and between June 2022 and March 2024, the Taliban issued more than 100 edicts restricting the rights of women and girls across the country.
Takeover of Afghan Mission’s Worldwide
In three years, the Taliban regime has so far taken control of 39 Afghan embassies and consulates globally after it took over power by force.
The diplomatic missions abroad, including Kazakhstan, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, China, Turkmenistan, Qatar and Malaysia, the missions in India, and the consulate general in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. The induced propaganda is viewed as the Taliban’s mechanisation to gain legitimacy. The Afghan Embassy in London was closed in September this year.
The question is whether the Taliban is so powerful or the world is enabling it to become stronger. In both cases, the world needs to act decisively, keeping aside petty geopolitical gains and complying with the principles where Afghans can shape a future for a better tomorrow.
International Community’s Engagement with the Taliban
Regrettably, the Taliban barred the participation of Afghan women representatives and other civil society groups at the third edition of the United Nations-led international conference in Doha on Afghanistan, held on June 30 and July 1. Special envoys from 25 countries, including India, attended the Doha meeting.
India was also among 10 regional countries that participated in a meeting of diplomatic representatives convened by the Taliban in Kabul in January 2024. It shows the growing engagement with a regime that New Delhi doesn’t officially recognise.
In January this year, Taliban’s Foreign Minister Mottaqi held a meeting of diplomats from 11 countries, including India, China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan. The Taliban seems to have been accepted as a leading regional player to lead a meeting of countries
In January this year, Taliban’s Foreign minister Mottaqi held a meeting of diplomats from 11 countries, including India, China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan, and proposed establishing a “region-centric narrative aimed at developing regional cooperation for a positive and constructive engagement between Afghanistan and regional countries.” This was one of the first publicised meetings. Taliban seems to have been accepted as a leading regional player to lead a meeting of countries. Various countries are engaging with terrorist organisation in their interest. Someone needs to ask the people of Afghanistan who are reeling under the gruesome Taliban rule. The world needs to stand for the Afghan people and not to advocate for the Taliban’s demands.
“Conditional engagement can provide leverage to influence the Taliban’s behaviour.” What is the guarantee that the Taliban will honour the conditions accepted by them? The Taliban’s record of adherence to promises made even to the US at the time of negotiations proves otherwise; the Doha Peace Deal of 2020 speaks volumes of the Taliban’s tales of manipulation.
Engaging with the Taliban, or counter-terrorism operations are unlikely to effect a change in the Taliban’s thinking and behaviour as US intervention, engagement, and 20 years of counter-terrorism operations have proved futile. Also, such counter-terrorism strategies are unlikely to force the Taliban and Al Qaeda to abandon their larger aim of global jihad.
India
As per the HT report, “The Indian foreign ministry’s point-person, JP Singh, joint secretary of the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division of the external affairs ministry, met the Taliban’s acting defence minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob for the first time on November 6 and discussed ways to expand relations between the two sides.”
The Sunday Guardian report notes that the Government of India is likely to accept the Taliban-led government’s request to appoint a representative named Ikramuddin Kamil to be placed as second secretary for the Afghanistan consulate in Mumbai.
The Afghanistan Consulate in Mumbai has announced the resumption of passport distribution for Afghan citizens starting November 11. Zia Ahmad Takal, the deputy spokesman for the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry, confirmed the announcement in a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter).
The recent resumption of consular services in Mumbai follows a recent visit by an Indian delegation to Kabul for talks with Taliban officials. Led by JP Singh, the delegation met with Taliban representatives, including Defence Minister Yaqoob Mujahid and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. India has not yet recognised the Taliban regime.
The question is, what could be the aim of such a meeting at a time when the Taliban has not fulfilled its obligations to adhere to people’s mandate in the face of a colossal humanitarian crisis? Such meetings raise questions about whether India’s touted inclusivity demand has given up on women’s rights, education and employment for women.
What is the guarantee that the Taliban will not support Jihad beyond its borders? In light of the Afghan people’s tragic suffering, the Government of India need to define its approach while dealing with the Taliban dispensation and what it aims to achieve.
The Economic Times reported on October 4, “Security forces recovered M4 carbine assault rifles from terrorists killed in encounters in Jammu and Kashmir. The weapons left behind by the US Army after their withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 appear to have reached the terrorists through Pakistani handlers”
Should India continue to have the Taliban-linked individuals in the Afghan Embassy in India? And its engagement with the Taliban finally installed Taliban representatives in the Afghan Mission in New Delhi last year under Afghanistan’s tricolour flag and a new Taliban appointee nominee in the Mumbai Consulate is likely to join now.
There have been two trips by Indian officials in the past two-and-half years. The first visit took place in June 2022 and the second in October 2022. Since then, it was decided to unseat Afghan Ambassador Farid Mamundzay and India’s unjustifiable attempt was successful in September 2023 forcing to shut down the mission.
After the first official delegation visited Kabul, India sent a ‘technical team’ to Kabul which has been stationed at the embassy since then. The publicly stated objective has been to coordinate the delivery of humanitarian aid and support to the people of Afghanistan. But, why has India refused to extend visas of the diplomats of the Afghan mission and not issued a No Objection Certificate to Afghan Ambassador Farid Mamundzay? Was India’s stand fair for Afghan people’s representatives?
India needs to understand that the top priority in fighting terrorism is to keep terrorist outfits, known terrorist supporters and terror-sponsoring countries such as Pakistan and Taliban-led Afghanistan at arm’s length. Holding sponsors, financiers and facilitators of terrorism comes later.
That being so, what is the logic behind having Taliban supporters in the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi? Does India think that the Afghanistan Government ruled by a group of designated terrorists has turned peaceful?
Is it in India’s interest to allow Taliban supporters in their embassy in New Delhi? Isn’t the Taliban-led government supporting TTP’s efforts to wage a Jihad war in Pakistan? Will they not play a similar tactical game against India when the time comes?
Days after a Taliban-led Afghan Government-affiliated senior diplomat installed in the Afghan Embassy in India last year, Ms Zakia Wardak, was caught smuggling 25 Kg of gold worth $2 million. Has the matter been investigated? What was the purpose of the gold being smuggled into India? Why has she fled to the US? Still, there is no clarity provided by the Government of India.
The Ghani government-appointed Afghan Ambassador Farid Mamundzay who had left India temporarily on a private visit in September 2023, was not allowed by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to return to his post in Delhi, paving the way for the appointment of Taliban-affiliated diplomat Zakia Wardak as the officiating head of the Afghan mission in India last year.
Ambassador Mamundzay, thereafter, announced the closure of the embassy citing a ‘lack of support’ from MEA and softening its position towards the Taliban. Ambassador Farid Mamundzay has been managing the needs of Afghanistan and Afghans in India effectively, considering that he did not have the backing of the Government in Afghanistan.
Why should India engage more with the Taliban, or what benefits India hopes to gain from such engagement? India has already replaced the Afghan Embassy representatives in India with Taliban affiliates without considering the sanctity of the Embassy as laid down by the Geneva Convention.
How Afghan Mission in New Delhi Survived (2021-2023)
Fuelled by the mounting political tensions in Kabul during the intervening months of the Taliban takeover in 2021, the Afghan Mission in New Delhi laid the foundation and set inspirational goals to respond to the Afghan refugees’ concerns with workable solutions. In the face of the elevating political tensions traded by heated rhetoric, the Afghan Mission in New Delhi led by Ambassador Farid Mamundzay created a roadmap seeking the international community’s support to tackle the governance challenges by its strengthened standpoint.
The fall of Kabul to the Taliban wasn’t an easy task for the Afghan missions worldwide to handle, including New Delhi. Nonetheless, without a government to represent itself in the host country – the toughest phase, New Delhi’s Afghan mission’s resilient effort in finding forward-looking solutions, and moving in the direction of progress from 2021 till 2023, saw remarkable success. It spotlights the enormous potential in addressing humanitarian crises, evacuation operations, procurement of aid during the Covid pandemic, wheat aid assistance support, addressing consular issues, trade issues, students’ issues and scholarships which helped to ensure their transparent implementation and strengthen the ability of the delivery mechanisms on which the former mission operated to address the crisis.
The Afghan Mission led by the erstwhile Government of Afghanistan representatives has had the legacy of its foundational role in promoting Afghanistan-India relations for decades. The Taliban’s return to power reminded the dark chapters in Afghanistan’s history – a legacy of slavery resounded down the ages and will never be forgotten. The emergence of the Taliban blighted the former Afghan Embassy despite carrying the legacy of deep-rooted relations with India and its people.
Building on the success of the Afghan mission’s tireless efforts, Ambassador Farid Mamundzay’s heroic leadership remained at the forefront to fight against all odds head-on during the most difficult circumstances. Extending through a vast spectrum of humanitarian support achievements to Afghans, the mission breathed its values. His coordinated effort paved in a complimentary way to engage with the regional organisations and mechanisms created to deal with the challenges that contributed in every field of human endeavour to guard against the erosion of progress over the past two years until the permanent closure of the mission, lastly, India handed over the Afghan mission to the Taliban unannounced in the intervening night of November 22-23, 2023.
Russia
According to an RIA Novosti publication in May 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s decision was about recognising the realities on the ground. “They are the real power. We are not indifferent to Afghanistan. And above all, our allies in Central Asia are not indifferent,” he said. Russia needs to see the overall picture of terrorism and the Taliban’s role in it. Removing the Taliban from the Terror list by Russia provides legitimacy to the outfit which ultimately wants the Taliban-led Afghan Government to be recognised.
The Taliban must be told to seek legitimacy through elections otherwise its government will not be recognised. The ‘recognition of the Taliban-led government’ is the only leverage the world has to tame the Taliban. Financial sanctions, stopping aid or the flow of food grains are unlikely to alter its behaviour
The world needs to remember that despite efforts by all, the Taliban continues to have a cabinet of terrorists. It refuses to have a constitution and go through the electoral process to get approval for its rule from the people. Seeking legitimacy through people’s mandate will force the Taliban to care for its people. Legitimising Taliban rule will not be in the interest of the long-term interests of the world.
Does Moscow’s decision to appoint a defence attaché of Afghanistan imply that Moscow trusts the Taliban and hopes that it will fight ISIS to prevent the terror group from targeting Russia? Russia needs to be clear on its assessment of the threat to its territory from the Taliban and ISIS. The threat assessment needs to be openly articulated which will be a guide to smaller countries in their approach to Taliban and ISIS.
Mistaken assessments and actions at random are likely to draw smaller countries into the Russian path, causing a major catastrophe for the entire world. “Russia will remove the Taliban from a list of banned terrorist organisations,” according to the state-run news agency RIA Novosti.
The question is, whether Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Haqqani Network Chief now Afghanistan’s interior minister, and Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, one of the movement’s founders, on a UN blacklist, have become saints? What about the other ministers and officials who were former terrorists but now ruling the country?
“They are the real power. We are not indifferent to Afghanistan. And above all, our allies in Central Asia are not indifferent,” Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov said. Russia fails to understand on what basis of his utterance that the Taliban “are the real power”? Doesn’t a government and the leaders get power from the people of the land? Or does the minister think guns provide the power?
The United Nations
“The Taliban reportedly demanded that no Afghan women be allowed to participate in the UN meeting in Doha held in June this year, to discuss the international community’s approach to Afghanistan. Interestingly, women’s rights were not on the agenda”. Excluding women who form half the population of Afghanistan and keeping them out of the Afghan peace process risks eluding sustainable peace and an unhappy civil society in the country.
Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch, said: “Excluding women risks legitimising the Taliban’s abuses and triggering irreparable harm to the UN’s credibility as an advocate for women’s rights and women’s meaningful participation.” UN, by allowing the meeting procedures without Afghan women’s participation amounted to legitimising the Taliban’s abuses and caused irreparable harm to the UN’s credibility as an advocate for women’s rights and women’s meaningful participation.
How can the UN or anyone demand the Taliban to form an inclusive Government if the UN allows the meeting to go on without the much-touted inclusivity? “This situation is an indirect submission to the will of the Taliban. Law, democracy and sustainable peace are not possible without including half of the population who are women”, said the former Afghan minister of women’s affairs Sima Samar.
Regional Threat
According to sources, the Taliban in Afghanistan are attempting to move TTP fighters from areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, particularly in Khost province, to other provinces in Afghanistan. “This decision follows recent attacks in Pakistan and an attack on Chinese citizens in Besham, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. In May 2023, a senior Pakistani official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Turkey’s Anadolu news agency that Islamabad had reached an agreement with the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior to relocate Pakistani Taliban fighters from the border to western Afghanistan. At that time, Anadolu Agency reported that Pakistan would fund this relocation.”
More than 1,500 ISIS-affiliated migrants from Tajikistan are known to have crossed the US-Mexico border between October 2020 and May 2024. About 500 Tajiks are said to have been caught so far this year. Tajikistan which borders China and Afghanistan, has become a major source of terrorists’ recruitment for ISIS and Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), an offshoot of the Islamic State militant group.
According to reports, sources close to Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada indicated that extremist Sunni groups, including Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, and Boko Haram, have pledged allegiance to the Taliban, signalling the group’s growing influence on the global jihadist stage.
This alliance now spans from South Asia to North Africa. Al-Qaeda, under its new leader Saif al-Adl, renewed its allegiance following Ayman al-Zawahiri’s death in Kabul in 2022. Other factions, such as Al-Qaeda branches in Yemen, North Africa, and Libya’s Ansar al-Sharia, have also pledged support.
In Pakistan, groups like the Pakistani Taliban reaffirmed their loyalty to the Taliban, while others, like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, shifted allegiance to ISIS-Khorasan, cutting ties with the Taliban. Experts warn that this alliance complicates the global counterterrorism landscape and poses significant risks to regional and international security.
Way Forward
The Taliban’s Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani has claimed that their government has the support of the people of Afghanistan and does not require international recognition. According to the statement, Haqqani, who has a $10 million FBI bounty for information for his arrest, said: “When a government has the support of the people, there is no need for international recognition.” The Taliban government has stated that issues concerning women’s rights in Afghanistan are internal matters that they are working to address.
The world needs to isolate Afghanistan till the terrorists who are ruling the country are unelected, either become legitimate through the people’s mandate or gain some sense and sympathy for its people.
The Taliban has not changed course on any issue despite efforts by the UN and various countries. Its larger aim is ‘global jihad’ and the establishment of Sharia law throughout the world. Will it change?
Afghan women need to be empowered and included in the system so that they heal from the challenges that have endured their existence. Inclusive governance will empower people. To establish an inclusive government, the world must force the Taliban to conduct elections
The need therefore is to adopt a people-oriented strategy where the Taliban is forced to seek the support of people to remain in power, while efforts are made to wean the people away from supporting atrocities and harsh measures imposed by the terror groups in the name of religion. Seeking the support of the people will automatically force the Taliban to adopt people-friendly measures in its rule. The harsh measures imposed by the Taliban are meant to prevent opposition to the terror group’s dictates and to remain in power unopposed. The global community must counter this intention of the Taliban. To implement the strategy, the Taliban must be told categorically to seek legitimacy from the people through elections otherwise there will be no dialogue with the terror group and its government will not be recognised. It is imperative to understand that ‘recognition of the Taliban-led government’ is the only leverage that the world has to tame the Taliban into a peaceful organisation. Financial sanctions, stopping aid or the flow of food grains are unlikely to alter the Taliban’s behaviour, as the terror group is not concerned with the wellbeing of Afghan people currently.
If this strategy fails, an Afghan Government-in-exile should be established with financial support and assisted in gaining people’s support. Taliban should be starved of finances and weapons, which can happen only with international political support. Known terrorists and those apprehended during peace-keeping operations will have to be arrested and punished by a designated court, the modalities for which will have to be worked out.
At an appropriate time, members of the Government-in-exile, or individual candidates, will have to seek legitimacy and acceptability through people’s mandate under an international peacekeeping force. This will result in popular individuals emerging as leaders who may then elect the leadership of the Government to take charge of the country’s governance.
Regarding the countries that want to recognise the Taliban-led government, something has gone wrong in their thinking. Is this the type of society that the world is yearning for? Once the world recognises this government, things will only get worse from bad. Will the world remain a silent spectator, or political will act to support the Afghan people and not the Taliban?
Terrorism has affected a large number of countries around the world which is a present danger to the continent. This growing inferno of terrorism may be affected by those countries in the world, which is yet to witness the contours of terrorism. Therefore, the regional countries need to work collectively to curb terrorism, especially, in Afghanistan which has become the epicentre of terrorism since the Taliban’s takeover.
An Afghan Government-in-exile may be established. The Taliban should be starved of finances and weapons. Known terrorists and those apprehended during peace-keeping operations should be arrested and punished by a designated court
The Afghan people, where generations have only witnessed war and bloodshed, and these persistent challenges are creating a hell-like situation on earth for the innocent people who have been caught in this disturbing pattern of destruction for the last 40 years. Thus, human rights, education, women’s rights and the well-being of the Afghan people are paramount and cannot be ignored by countries around the world.
Ignoring the needs of the Afghans and advancing geopolitical aims in Afghanistan, undermines the world’s shared efforts to build and maintain peace, development and stability for Afghan people. It is high time that the major powers play a constructive role in supporting Afghan people not merely by giving humanitarian aid but by pulling out of the clutches of the Taliban and pushing the nation towards self-reliance. Afghan women need to be empowered and included in the system so that they heal from the challenges that have endured their existence. Inclusive governance will make Afghan people more confident and feel empowered. To establish an inclusive government in Afghanistan, the world must impress upon the Taliban to conduct elections to seek the will of the people’s mandate.
These are the essential anchors grounded in the principles that define shared responsibility of the world contributing to Afghan people’s development endeavour and pursuit of peace. All these efforts will vanquish the shadow of the Taliban’s terrorism, the patriarchal subjugation of women and girls, and outrageous acts of violence against them.
Now the world must think about what is good for the Afghan people!
The writer is an international affairs expert and a political analyst specialising in Afghanistan's political and socio-economic affairs. The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily carry the views of Raksha Anirveda
