August 15, 2024, marked three years since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and took the Afghan people hostage.
In 2018, when then-U.S. President Donald Trump appointed Zalmay Khalilzad as the special envoy for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, he enthusiastically pressed for negotiations with the Taliban to end the United States’ longest war. Khalilzad’s mandate consisted of (1) securing the withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign troops; (2) securing a guarantee from the Taliban that there will not be any terrorist attacks from Afghan soil; (3) securing a ceasefire; and (4) intra-Afghan dialogue.
In his recent interview with Tolo TV, Afghanistan’s largest television network, Khalilzad reiterated that the Doha Agreement signed by the U.S. and the Taliban on February 29, 2020, still needs implementation. He dismissed the Taliban’s rhetoric that the U.S. lost its longest war. Instead, Khalilzad claimed that it was by choice that the United States left Afghanistan.
I argue that the aim of Taliban-U.S. negotiations was not peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan but rather to fulfill the first objective of Khalilzad’s mandate: the withdrawal of foreign troops. Meanwhile, Afghan women’s concerns – raised consistently and courageously during the three years of negotiations from 2018-2021 – have been ignored. Today, those concerns have turned into a living nightmare for girls and women.
The Taliban’s illegitimate rule has had an enormous impact on the Afghan people even while the current global geostrategic shifts have made peace difficult in Afghanistan. What can the international community in general and South Asia in particular do to support an Afghan-centered and driven political process that could lead to durable peace and regional security?
Throughout the Taliban-U.S. negotiations, Afghan civil society and women’s groups emphasized that there is no difference between the Taliban that ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s and the Taliban of today. The Taliban are an ideologically dogmatic, extremist, religious proxy group. Once in power, their goal has been to erase women from Afghan society. Indeed, as Afghan women point out, when the Taliban captured power, they started annihilating women, the political opposition, civil society, media, and progressive voices one by one.
One of the first actions that the Taliban took was to ban education and schools for Afghan girls beyond grade 6. There have been no girl graduates from high schools or universities in the past few years. Subsequently, the Taliban started banning women from employment, for example, women-run bakeries were shut. Going to parks, hammams (public baths), and coffee shops was forbidden for women. Local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are banned from providing education and training to women staff. The Taliban also replaced the Ministry of Women’s Affairs with the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
Women are also banned from participating in radio and TV shows where the presenters are men, from sports, and from traveling abroad without a mahram (male chaperone) (for more details refer to the U.S. Institute of Peace’s list of bans). In trying to erase women from Afghan society, the Taliban have put the onus on Afghan men if their female codependents disobey the decrees. This means Afghan men are also victims of the Taliban’s gender discriminatory policies.
The Taliban declared that they observe King Zahir Shah’s Constitution but will not allow any political parties and social organizations to be active. Despite announcing amnesty for those who worked with/for the former Republic government, they have continued with arbitrary arrests, killing of former Afghan Security Forces, and the torture and disappearances of ex-government officials, according to a U.N. Special Rapporteur’s report on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan (notably, the U.N. Special Rapporteur is barred from entering the country). The imprisonment of Matiullah Wesa, who advocated village to village for the education of girls and empowerment of women, is the precedent for the shrinking voice of Afghan civil society, men and women alike.
The Taliban have managed to tarnish Afghan identity by taking down again the tricolor flag and eliminating cultural celebrations of Nowruz. Their bans on education for women were endorsed incorrectly as being part of Afghan culture by Pakistan’s then-Prime Minister Imran Khan when the Taliban became de facto authorities of the country. The Taliban’s ruthless behavior toward religious and ethnic minorities has also damaged the diversity of Afghanistan.
Another worrying development is the establishment of madrassas (religious schools) and the radicalization of Afghan society. Haqqani madrassas were founded in Paktia province and the General Directorate of Jihadi Schools has reported that a total of 6,830 madrassas exist throughout the country. At a time when 24.4 million Afghans need humanitarian assistance and 9 out of 10 are living in poverty, per the United Nations, the Taliban are luring Afghan families with $250 to attend these madrassas. There is a direct link between the restrictions and bans on women, their lack of education and poverty, and increased radicalization.
In monopolizing power and refusing to negotiate with Afghans from different walks of life, the Taliban have proven that they do not believe in negotiations nor reconciliation. The United Nations and the international community must take note that consensus and peace cannot be reached by endorsing the ways of a militant group that promotes a culture of impunity and only knows the language of force.
Even though Afghans do not want a return to an era of warlords and corrupt politicians of the former republic, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA), in a survey, indicated that only 4 percent of Afghan women and 3 percent of Afghan men favor recognition of the Taliban Islamic Emirate.
Following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have increased great power rivalry over Afghanistan as well. Afghanistan’s geostrategic location has prompted countries like the U.S., China, Russia and its neighbors to prioritize their own interests over that of the Afghan people. However, cutting deals with the Taliban regime will serve only their short-term interests since the Taliban do not represent the majority of the Afghan population.
A prosperous and peaceful region can be envisioned when Afghanistan is at peace, and its political institutions are built based on justice, equality, and economic empowerment. Afghanistan’s global position since World War II has never been offensive. It would like to live in peace with its neighbors, provided its sovereignty is respected and proxy politics of involved stakeholders are put to an end.
The current authoritarian regime of the Taliban is a continuation of the misguided policies of foreign actors, which have promoted instability and extremism in Afghanistan. Regional economic prosperity and human security are directly linked to Afghanistan’s current and future political situation.
Therefore, the U.N. must pursue a mechanism for international consensus building and a national one that echoes the desires of Afghans for their future with an inclusive, transparent approach.
Unfortunately, the people who are invited to international forums are responsible for 40 years of conflict and destruction in Afghanistan. Most conflict actors within Afghanistan negotiate their place for money and power at the expense of the Afghan national interest, which makes them untrustworthy to the Afghan people. In addition, the current regime makes it an impossible task to establish people-led processes to discuss Afghanistan’s political future within the country.
Afghanistan’s regional neighbors must foster debate and create favorable conditions to promote Sustainable Development Goals and civil-political and social rights to find inclusive alternatives in Afghanistan instead of blindly falling into the trap of recognizing the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate. The international community must learn from the mistakes of the past: If the foundations of transitional justice, equality, and freedom are not implemented, governmental and political establishments and institutions will fall. The continuation of the status quo in Afghanistan will not only destroy Afghan society but the ripples of chaos will be felt far beyond the Afghan borders.