The Return of Mullahs: On the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan by the Taliban

debate on Will the Taliban form an “inclusive government” The Taliban, representing all sections of Afghan society, rested themselves on 7 September when the group’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced Formation of new administration of ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’. Of the 33 cabinet ministers nominated, 30 are Pashtuns, two ethnic Tajiks, and one Uzbek. The Taliban are primarily Pashtuns, who make up about 40% of Afghanistan’s ethnically diverse population of 40 million. Women and the Hazara Shia minority – both faced targeted persecution and discrimination when the Taliban was in power in the 1990s – were completely excluded. There are seventeen ministers on the blacklist of UN sanctions for terrorists, including the head of government, Mullah Hassan Akhundiand Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of Haqqani Network. Mullah Hibatullah AkhundzadaThe Taliban’s reclusive emir would be ‘Amir ul-Mominin’ (Commander of the Loyalists), a title that Mullah Omar assumed in the 1990s. with cabinet portfolios allocated to the Taliban core and Haqqani, and introducing a system similar to previous Islamic emirates known to disregard basic human rights, the Taliban have sent a clear message that they care little about what the world thinks of them.

Today’s Taliban looks stronger than its last incarnation. In the 1990s, only three countries recognized the Islamic Emirate; The Taliban also never controlled the whole of Afghanistan. But now, more regional powers are ready to join them, including China And Russia. The group has also claimed total control over the country, with Panjshir, the last holdout, ending earlier this week. With the new government, a strong Taliban is trying to tighten its grip, though it may not be easy. Since Afghanistan became a republic in 1973, no government in Kabul has managed to stabilize the country. Ethnic, religious and political contradictions are so deep that they cannot be hidden from the divisive Islamist Pashtun nationalism of the Taliban. In Panjshir, the insurgents went back to the mountains, like the Taliban did in 2001, but they can regroup and come back after 2005 like the Taliban. The total exclusion of Shias and marginalization of other castes could be a blow back in the near term. . Afghanistan has also seen the rise of a vibrant civil society, especially in its cities, which cannot silently accept the rule of Taliban mullahs. Already, action on women’s rights has triggered mass protests by women in Kabul and elsewhere, a feat unimaginable in the 1990s. If the Taliban were wise, they would focus on healing the wounds of a long war and rebuilding a broken state and society. But the Pashtun, Islamist, sectarian Taliban seem programmatically incapable of doing so.