Peace or Jihad? Taliban Is Keeping It Vague

 

Living through two decades of rigid and conflicting Taliban control, Afghanistan now looks like a blend of significant reform, terror, and intimidation.Observers sit on the fences as nothing in their territory is black and white anymore. 

The lives of people who are under the Taliban control are more like a slowly reforming life showing emergence of education and infrastructure with grey shades of violence and force.

Retrospectively, Under the Taliban rule, people's lives were tough and restricted with women not having the permission to work and entertainment via TV and even music being banned. Violence and public executions were common things back then.

Recently, when a BBC news reporter stepped on their land and knocked on their doors to get acquainted with their lives a little, he was escorted by the Taliban as they took him for a brief tour of their territory.

As they entered a Taliban school there, seeing hijabi girls sitting in the classrooms with a spark in their eyes and a meek smile for being able to practice their rights of being educated on their young faces was a different treat to the eyes.

The classroom was full of girls surely did paint a picture of a progressing community but then again, a few locals had the other side of the coin bothering them as they conversed with the channel. 

They told about people who were tortured and punished for shaving their beards and the Taliban broke stereos for playing music.

More such bewildering facts and stories are coming from the territories that make it hefty a task to find out how much and in what ways has the Taliban rule changed.

In Conversation with Haji Hekmat

In conversation with Haji Hekmat, Taliban mayor, Balkh district, the veil was lifted off the Taliban motives. When asked about the Taliban's new rivalry with other Muslims, he told that Taliban leaders wanted them to follow their ways of Islamic living and ruling.

And he had somewhat the same reaction when questioned on his opinion on letting wars begin. Haji Hekmat announced his preparedness for peace if the Taliban gets Jihad.

What do you think can be the bottom line of this conversation?  'Begun with Jihad and with Jihad undone'? well, you're sane if you think so!

Further, the mayor placed his rigidness of not leaving the path of struggle and fight till the government accepted their demands. He stated the Taliban's want for an Islamic system.

Sources have it that the Taliban is now stronger than ever. Over the decades, it has captured territory across the country and now possesses control over around half of Afghanistan.

With the help of select international aid groups that the militants allowed to operate, education and healthcare have improved under the Taliban.

However, women under their rue are still underdeveloped and peeping from behind the curtains of conservatism at the sky in hope of a slightly better life.

Despite the claims of a progressed educational and health infrastructure, a few university students of the territory rubbished the development perspective and defamed it all to be in the Taliban's own favor.

Starvation, injustice, brutality, and violence persists and sometimes is the middle name of the Taliban territories of Afghanistan.

Nobody can actually say if more development or more violence and bloodshed is about to come as the Taliban leaders play their cards close to their chests.

Doing everything in the name of Jihad and religion, the Taliban has given themselves a vague authority and sees themselves as a government in waiting.

Assuming a formal power in Afghanistan, many fear that the Taliban would use further intimidation to get what they want.

In April 2020, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's request to open an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity during the country's armed conflict was rejected by a three-judge panel of International Criminal Court ( ICC) judges.

Judges claimed that the changes within the landscape in the country and key states would be challenging when taken into account during the investigation.

The bottom line is that the Taliban is working together to build a shared home where the Muslims of their community can live with peace and dignity following the path of Jihad and the principles of Islam.

They promise of working on infrastructure and improving the lives of the people there.  Jihad is what they reiterate and devote all their efforts to.  On the Taliban's land, they want to possess control over everything with no governmental interruption. 

As per what they say very often when provided all these, they are ready to give up on violence and force. Still, the Taliban's intentions are very much unknown and their motives and wants are not crystal clear for the people there to take a sigh of relief. 

Written by - Devyani Roy

Edited by – Akanksha Sharma