TWO years have lapsed since the Afghan Taliban took Kabul, and the Western-backed government melted away, bringing to a close a lengthy and expensive nation-building experiment. However, while the Taliban may be celebrating the occasion, the Afghan people have little to cheer about.

While it is true that the relentless violence Afghanistan has been witnessing since the Soviet invasion and later the American invasion has come down considerably, the Taliban continue to enforce their ultraconservative version of religious rule upon the populace, while international isolation and a long-running drought have inflicted crushing poverty on the Afghan people. Women in particular have seen their limited freedoms snatched by the hard-line rulers of Kabul, especially the right to get an education and participate in society.

Unlike during the previous period of Taliban governance, when the Saudis, Emiratis and Pakistan recognised the militia as the legitimate Afghan rulers, today the Taliban find no country willing to extend recognition to them. Their dismal human rights record, and failure to act against all terrorist groups on their soil, are the key stumbling blocks standing in the way of international recognition.

The sooner the Taliban address these concerns, the better; yet the hard-line leadership in Kandahar appears to have a dominating veto on such matters over politicians and pragmatists in Kabul. The clerics in Kandahar seem intent on dragging Afghanistan back to the Middle Ages. Sadly, their intransigence is having a devastating effect on the Afghan people.

The Red Cross says 28.8m Afghans are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, while the UN has observed that 15.3m people in the country face acute food insecurity. The Taliban, therefore, need to reconsider their obstinate stance so that help can easily reach their devastated countrymen.

If Kabul’s rulers were to improve the human rights situation — especially for women — and assure the comity of nations that their soil will not be used to host terrorists, global recognition could be forthcoming. However, as long as both these expectations remain unmet, few in the world will be willing to advocate for engaging the Taliban.

Pakistan, for example, has long called upon the world community to talk to the Taliban, yet its concerns about the TTP remain unaddressed. But regardless of political developments, the world cannot leave millions of Afghans to face starvation and death.

Support must continue to the Afghan people to help them survive tough times. In this regard, billions of dollars belonging to the Afghan central bank — being blocked by the US — must be released so that food, medicine and other essential needs of the Afghan population can be met. Afghanistan’s people deserve a chance at rebuilding their country, not more isolation imposed on them due to the short-sighted policies of their rulers.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2023