Followed by the fall of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, the Taliban is back in power after 20 years of war, and so is the expectation of a hardline Islamist rule, like in the regime led from 1996-2001, where girls could not go to school and people were stoned to death.
However, this time, the Taliban is trying to project an air of moderation in an attempt to convince the population of a ‘peaceful’ rule. Enamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban’s cultural commission, on Tuesday, 17 August, declared a 'general amnesty' for government workers.
Samangani’s comments were the first on how the Taliban might govern on a national level, marking a departure from the last Taliban regime.
He was quoted as saying, “The Islamic Emirate doesn’t want women to be victims,” using the militants’ name for Afghanistan, and added, “They should be in the government structure according to Shariah law,” AP reported.
Further, a Taliban statement read, “Those working in any part or department of the government should resume their duties with full satisfaction and continue their duties without any fear," news agency AFP reported.
Ground Situation
Following chaos at Kabul airport on Monday, evacuation flights from Kabul's airport restarted on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, traffic police were back on the streets and some shops also reopened. Some Taliban officials also planned a first diplomatic meeting with the Russian ambassador.
However, it is feared that basic fundamental rights and public spaces that Afghan women had fought for, will be rescinded. Schools and universities are closed, while few women openly took to the streets, demanding that women should not be eliminated from public life. Men shed their Western clothes for traditional wear, AFP reported.
Notably, a female television anchor on TOLO News interviewed a Taliban official on camera on Tuesday.
Background
On Sunday, 15 August, the Taliban took over the presidential palace in Afghanistan, striking the last nail in the coffin for the US-backed government, as President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, conceding that the Taliban had won the 20-year war.
Abdul Ghani Baradar, Taliban co-founder, who is likely to be the next President was released from a Pakistani prison in 2018, after Donald Trump’s Afghan envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, asked the Pakistanis to release him so he could lead negotiations in Qatar, believing that a power-sharing arrangement could be settled on.
Baradar signed the Doha agreement with the US in February 2020, in what was seen as a breakthrough towards peace in the war-ravaged country.
However, it has now become evidently clear that a power-sharing arrangement was never a real option for the Taliban, as they were only biding time until the US troops left, to take complete control of the nation.
The Taliban also has sought to reassure people that they will not take revenge against those who supported the US-backed alliance.
(With inputs from AFP and AP)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)