Kashmir Digits

Since Taliban took over Afghanistan, the country has seen sweeping changes in administration, day to day work and overall position of the country in the world’s political dynamic.

Earlier seen as a buffer for many nations surrounding it, with heavy investments coming from India, everyone is now vary of the Islamist approach that Taliban is poised to run in the country.

Already some decisions have raised eyebrows like barring of women sports and return of strict Sharia punishments.

First Person Account

Recently, Jamal who works with an international relief organisation spoke to Kallol Bhattacherjee on phone from Kabul, narrating a first person account of situation in Kabul, his conversation was published in The Hindu daily.

Here a few excerpts of that conversation.

The only place we find large crowds are the banks where people are waiting in long queues for withdrawals. But strangely we can’t withdraw our own money.

Withdrawal limit is fixed at $200 per week and therefore residents are quite worried as prices are shooting up daily and that kind of money is totally insufficient for maintaining a family.

There is widespread joblessness all around and I can see it right in my family. In my family, I am the only earning member right now. 

My brother who was employed as an engineer with the government of Afghanistan went to his office a few days ago but the management came to the gate of the office and announced that the unit will remain closed till further notice.

He was not receiving salary for some time and now he does not have to attend to office work either. He has been without a salary for the last four months.

People Under Stress, Theft, Robbery.

Under these circumstances, the general stress level of people is very high.

Everyone is in a state of panic about how they are going to survive. I have been training people on stress management for the past five years as part of my work to help victims of conflict and I can maintain calm but people at home or outside are all highly stressed.

No government institution is functioning and the government is not earning any money and there are no salaries as a result for government employees. I am among a few fortunate persons who still have a job and a salary.

In the midst of the financial crisis, we are witnessing a sudden increase in car theft and robbery. A gunman can suddenly appear before a person driving a nice car and ask him to hand over the car.

In such a situation, the car owner has no other option but to abide. I myself remain very careful and always go out with two or three persons if I have to venture out for any meeting after sunset and take the busiest road for commuting.

Chaos

The Taliban are not in a position to control the situation as they simply don’t have any idea about how to run the system. A lot of people who were running the administration have left. There are concerns about the database of our passports.

I was told that the people who handled the IT system in our passport offices have left the country and there is no one in the Taliban set up who can run the system for processing any application for getting a new passport or renewal of passports or any other issues. 

The travel scenario has become equally absurd. Earlier a two-way Kabul-Islamabad flight ticket on Kam Air used to cost $300 but now a one-way ticket on that route costs $1,300.

Sharia Law

Soon after taking over Afghanistan Taliban declared that Sharia will govern the country and there will be no democratic system at all because it does not have any base in the country.

Taliban in accordance with the Sharia Law have banned music, not allowed women to work or study alongside men, replaced women’s ministry with a vice and virtue department and strict punishments for crime.

Women are required to wear the head-to-toe burqa and cover themselves completely while the group also banned barbers from trimming beards in a province.

Taliban have assured that women will have their rights respected “within the framework of Islamic law”, adding that women would have the right to education and work.

Also about a week ago the group caught and punished a group of kidnappers. The four kidnappers were executed and some of their bodies were reportedly seen hung in public view in the city of Herat.  Reports said the men had kidnapped a local businessman and his son.

Taliban’s finances and international support.

While India and US have adopted a more wait and watch approach towards Taliban, others have lend a careful hand forward, while some have openly welcomed the new regime.

The likes of Turkey and Germany have remained guarded and skeptical against Taliban saying actions rather than words will define their rule. Qatar while refusing to acknowledge the Islamist Emirate said that their pragmatism should be considered and their public actions should speak for themselves.

Saudi Arabia backed Taliban saying that it hopes the new interim government will help the war-torn nation achieve ‘stability and overcome violence and extremism.

Pakistan and China have emerged has two countries throwing their weight behind the new Kabul regime.

China revealed that it was offering at least $31m worth of emergency aid, to Afghanistan.

Pakistan has lended its support to Taliban in Kabul, helping with emergency aid and being the first country to land a commercial foreign flight in Kabul after the Taliban takeover. Imran Khan also said that Afghans “broke shackles of slavery” after US withdrew from the country.

Do Afghanistan People Support Taliban?

For years after their fall from power, the Taliban enjoyed support. The Asia Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization, found in 2009 that half of Afghans—mostly Pashtuns and rural Afghans—had sympathy for armed opposition groups, primarily the Taliban.

But in 2019, a response to the same survey found that only 13.4 percent of Afghans had sympathy for the Taliban .

Following the 2021 takeover, tens of thousands of Afghans tried to escape Afghanistan, and the UN refugee agency said more than half a million Afghans could flee by the end of the year.

 In addition, a resistance movement of former officials, local militia members, and Afghan security forces who call themselves the National Resistance Front formed in the remote and mountainous Panjshir Province. 

Challenge For Taliban

Clearly the situation right now is a challenging for Taliban both domestically and on the global front. With scepticism in West a huge problem and the bone of contention in the form of Panjshir resistance a growing concern as well.

Winning over its own people in the country will be seen crucial if this second incarnation of Taliban is to be successful than the first one and sustaim the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.