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| July 19, 2006 | Wednesday | Jumadi-ul-Sani 22, 1427 |
Rise, fall and resurgence of Taliban
The Taliban did not spring up overnight. The seeds of this radical Islamic group were sown years ago, in the late seventies and early eighties when the Mujahideen were fighting Soviet occupation forces in Afghanistan.
They were planted in US-sponsored and Pakistan-supported centres of religious learning at Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan. The intention was to create a force, imbued with a strict ideology, to oust the ‘infidel’ Soviets from Afghan territory.
But after the Soviets pulled back in 1989, the United States withdrew all support to Afghanistan, allowing the Mujahideen to grab power in Kabul a few years later. In-fighting ensued as different Afghan ethnic groups (the dominant Pashtuns and the minority Tajik, Uzbek, Hazara and Turkmen communities) fought for supremacy. This strengthened the warlord culture.
One fallout of this conflict was the blocking of an intended road from Chaman to Central Asia. In 1993, Benazir Bhutto’s government initiated dialogue with the warlords for opening up the route and former interior minister Naseerullah Babar paid a visit to Chaman in Sept 1993. But the warlords, who viewed the Pakistan army with distrust, held up a convoy of medical supplies at Takht-i-Pul, 12 miles outside Kandahar. Much to the warlords’ consternation, the Taliban, marching from the border areas of Pakistan, removed the hold-up.
This band of warriors, aged between 14 and 24 years, were welcomed by a war-weary population who viewed them as “soldiers of God” who had come to restore peace.
A movement that was a mix of religion and politics spread like wildfire in 1994 from Kandahar to Helmand, Herat, Paktia, Patika and Jalalabad (Pashtun majority areas). In 1996, the Taliban conquered Kabul, a move that was celebrated by Islamabad and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam.
The Taliban were successful in cracking down on lawlessness and crime, but soon began to enforce Islamic edicts of a puritanical nature. Men were forced to grow beards, and women were confined to their homes and not allowed to work or study. Former President Najibullah was executed in a gruesome way and the Taliban went on a killing spree of non-Pashtun communities including the Hazaras. In line with their ideology, the Taliban allowed militant groups to run training camps in the area and provided asylum to Osama bin Laden.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were the only countries to recognise the Taliban government. Pakistan recognised it on the grounds that it had established control over vast tracts of the country. But the material support, Pakistan was accused of extending to the Taliban, turned out to be a huge mistake.
After 9/11, when the Taliban refused to hand over Osama Bin Laden to the US, the latter attacked Afghanistan but not before Washington asked Islamabad to abandon support to the regime. The Taliban were routed and many of its members captured and killed. Now, after almost five years, these forces are regrouping and regaining strength. It is believed that the Taliban cannot be completely wiped out because, more than an organisation, it has become a mind-set.
People on both sides of the Durand Line share cultural and economic ties which give the Taliban a lot of support. Pakistan has a porous border making it easy for people to move in and out of Afghanistan. All these factors have contributed greatly to the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Talibanisation of Pakistani towns bordering Afghanistan.
Increasing Indian influence in Afghanistan is making Pakistan uneasy. This is one reason why many believe that sections of the Pakistani establishment are supporting the Taliban in a bid to retain a foothold in the strategically located Afghanistan.
However, others are of the view that because Islamabad has taken strong steps to counter militancy in its bordering areas and is under intense international, especially American, pressure to continue doing so, there is not even a remote possibility of Pakistan’s lending a helping hand to the Taliban.
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