Despite two years since the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan, this group is still not recognized internationally, with no single country recognizing its authority. The Taliban group, having seized power through the use of force and continuing to rule the people with this method, does not have internal legitimacy either. The Taliban tried to widen the existing gap between themselves and the people and marginalized the people by applying severe restrictions. However, a part of the Taliban leadership has realized this point thereby trying to partly fill the void of domestic illegitimacy. These Taliban leaders, who are called “moderates”, do not have the power to exert pressure on their Supreme Leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada to view the disaster he has inflicted upon the unfortunate people of Afghanistan realistically and eschew being obstinate.
However, even the “moderate” Taliban are not very interested in the central role of individuals in political decisions and do not believe in sharing power with their political opponents. They consider their regime to be comprehensive and legitimate, and so far, they have not given any importance to internal and external demands in connection with the establishment of an all-inclusive government. That is, the Taliban, whether they are extremists or so-called moderates, are inseparable from each other. They have repeatedly pointed out that there is no stark difference between the two factions. Taliban Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, who is called a “moderate” Taliban member because of supporting women’s education, every time the tensions between the Taliban factions heated up, was the first to call the news about the existence of a divide among the Taliban leadership as rumors asserting that there is unity in the ranks of this group.
Therefore, the Taliban is an anti-people group as a whole, with no remarkable difference existing between its small and large factions. Only the faction that is called “moderate” has more political realism; therefore, compared to the radical faction, it is more apprehensive and afraid of the possibility of the collapse of this group. The extremist faction of the Taliban, both because of its low political consciousness and because of its greater power, which it thinks is an immunity maker, acts fearlessly while consciously ignoring the consequences of the policy of repression and subjugation.
Is it possible to benefit from the political factionalism of the Taliban? I believe that if it can be done, it should be done. We must utilize all the fields and possibilities to challenge and finally topple the Taliban, which can include exploiting the existing gaps among the Taliban. However, it can be feasible when there is a high political-military weight in the power equation in Afghanistan. It should become a force whose political and military presence is undeniable and which no country can underestimate.
The political movements that try to challenge the Taliban should not be established only in foreign countries aiming at exploiting the people again with the support of foreigners and a shift in their foreign policy. Such currents, even if they come to work with the support of foreigners, will still go through the same fate as the technocrats supported by the Westerners in Afghanistan. Political currents dependent on foreigners are short-lived and only appear in politics when the foreign masters see fit. People’s resistance should not be in the hands of foreigners and should be carried out with the assistance of external powers. This is because foreigners pursue their own goals and interests in any event and these interests can be changed. Popular resistance must rely on itself and act with complete independence.
Unfortunately, despite more than two years since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, there have not been many indications of true popular resistance against this group. The Taliban are still in control of the situation, making the circumstances difficult for the political opponents of this group. It is as if everyone is weary of genuine political activity, except the Taliban, who are strengthening their foothold on Afghan soil with extreme enthusiasm and motivation. They have established a strict rule based on severe suppression of civil and democratic demands, which can be best called security with a bayonet.
Within this type of security, only the military aspect is considered. This is a repressive order whose main element is fear, with the agents of this enslaving order, investing the most in the politics of terror and intimidation, to the extent that people are even afraid of their own shadow. Although this type of policy can be functional in the short term, it will not be effective in the long term and will eventually face popular resistance. All closed and authoritarian regimes in history have undergone such a fate, and the Taliban cannot be excluded from this case.
The collapse of the Taliban is contingent on the intelligence and political courage of the people who are constantly overwhelmed by the Taliban. If the people have not completely lost the courage to rebel against the Taliban regime, the collapse of the Taliban will happen much sooner than expected. Several decades of war and destruction in which Islamic fundamentalists played an essential part have increased people’s knowledge of them, with a large portion of today’s villagers defying the gloomy policy of the school-burning ignoramuses and inwardly blind murderers.
People have understood that the school is enlightening and the bridge and road were built for their convenience. Villagers who called the school “the devil’s nest” during the Mujaheddin era and on the contrary sent their children to religious schools, now want to reopen the schools for girls. This development is of paramount importance in Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban, particularly when the Taliban have deprived women of the right to education.
If you live in Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban, you can well recognize the concealed anger of the people against this group. Only a trained political force is needed to awaken and manage this dormant anger. Such a force has not yet appeared in the political sphere of Afghanistan, which grants strength to the Taliban and more suffering to the people. Now it has become widely known that the Taliban have no alternative. If we cannot create the political alternative needed to manage people’s anger against the Taliban, then we must accept that this group cannot be superseded.
