Homa Khaleeli has penned an authoritative article regarding the uncertain future of Afghan women in the wake of US-UK decision to pull out of Afghanistan in the face of mounting resurgence of Taliban elements. The impending withdrawal of US-UK forces from Afghanistan has been a hot topic of discussion among a section international observers especially diplomats. Their opinions vary in this regard, I happened to go through an article of a former foreign diplomat of India, who is very much in favour of America and allies extricating themselves from their clutches giving way for Taliban to rule Afghanistan. Though he is a commentator par excellence on foreign issues, especially Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and Russia in some of which he had served as an ambassador for years and in that capacity an expert on the internal as well as external affairs my mind lingered on the brutal rule by Taliban since 1990s to 2001.
Taliban ruled following Shariat rules in letter and spirit they ruled brutally and many had been done away with by slapping medieval age practices. A number of them including former rulers hanged in public, stoned to death, whiplashed and women were disallowed to work for earning a living and when caught with suspicions of adultery were dealt by stoning to death, caning or hanging. They were always confined to their homes and their only responsibility lay in surrendering to their men, deliver their children and nothing other that. Education was denied to them, illiteracy among women grew, their jobs in various departments snatched away by Taliban rulers and they were hubristic of their method of rule. Homa Khaleeli writes about a lady who was confined to her home and the lady noticing her child starving to death went out into the streets to sell the hats she had woven and upon finding her in the streets Taliban’s moral police caught hold of her and with her pair of shoes they slapped her left and right and forced her to flee to her home. Only after Taliban rule, that was after 2001 attack of US-UK-NATO forces in the aftermath of 9/11 she could breath the fresh air of freedom. Since then she could climb up the ladder formed an organization for women and now with the news of Taliban being handed over power by US allies as they are already fed up with ten years of war ie. 2001-2011 with no positive results emerging. Now a face-saving formula is being chalked out, a trilateral talk including US, Pakistan and Afghanistan is said to be in the offing. America must be missing Af-Pak envoy Richard Holbrooke badly as a result of his untimely death at a critical moment like this.
Though US and UK have not accepted defeat publicly they are very well aware that continuing in Afghanistan is equivalent to losing more money, expense and power. Hence they have come out with a laughable argument that the ways of Taliban ‘are part of a local culture’ and therefore they will have to find a way out to stem the threat. Taliban still controls certain parts of Afghanistan where they rule following Shariat laws even now, means rule of cruelty.
Homa Khaleeli being a woman has concentrated her full attention on the unhappy pathetic days staring in the face of Afghan women but she should have taken into the whole picture.
In the event of Taliban acquiring rule of Afghanistan, if their one decade of unbearable rule as a pointer or an indicator, Taliban with the support of Pakistan will rule more cruelly. Except in Vietnam and Iran, wherever US intervened for example Iraq now Afghanistan their last resort was and is to run away admitting the defeat.
Within the not too distant future US and UK are mulling leaving Afghanistan for good handing over power to Hamid Karzai who is still President and with the Taliban entering the scene Afghanistan is poised to come under a conglomeration of forces, one thing is taken for granted : Taliban forces would again climb the citadel leading to an internal rebellion with plethora of forces pulling in different directions.
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