Introduction
In the historical memory of the Afghan nation, August 15 is not a mere date on the calendar; it is a symbol of collapse, the onset of darkness, and the failure of the international conscience. On this day, the return to power of a fundamentalist, misogynistic, and inhumane group sealed the fate of an entire nation. It must be remembered as one of the blackest days in Afghanistan’s modern history. On this day, not only did a political system fall, but the dreams and achievements born of half a century of Afghan women’s struggle for freedom, equality, and human dignity were crushed with violence. This was not just a political defeat; it was the disintegration of human values and fundamental rights.
1. The Return of Darkness: The Taliban and the Project to Erase Humanity
The Taliban, a group not born of national will but the direct product of regional and transnational intelligence projects, did not seize power on August 15, 2021, through a military victory. Rather, they were handed Kabul in a calculated surrender, a planned transfer of power marked by humiliation. In this disgraceful deal, it was not the will of the Afghan people that determined their fate, but secret arrangements between global powers that sealed the destiny of millions. The result of this handover was the wholesale eradication of Afghan women’s hard-won gains: from education and political participation to civil engagement and even the simple right to appear in public. The Taliban have not only denied women their most basic rights but have also officially and completely negated their social existence and identity.
Reports by the United Nations most notably those by Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan alongside findings from other reputable international organizations, provide stark evidence of systematic violence and organized elimination targeting women: arbitrary arrests, imprisonment, torture, and gang rape; forced marriages; targeted killings; and the deliberate, planned silencing of women.
2. The Plunder of Knowledge: Why the Taliban Fear Educated Women
The Taliban’s hostility toward education, especially women’s education, is neither incidental nor superficial; it is a core pillar of their extremist ideology. Since their inception, the Taliban have treated education not as a human right but as a threat to their intellectual and ethnic dominance. In their worldview, an informed woman is a source of questioning, and questioning is the greatest danger to religious, ethnic, and political despotism.
For the Taliban, an educated woman reads history, learns her rights, understands laws and international conventions, raises her voice, and refuses to remain silent in the face of injustice. This is why their complete and systematic removal of women from schools and universities is not merely a political decision; it is part of a broader project to eliminate the active, critical, and aware woman from society.
This policy is also rooted in the Taliban’s interpretation of religion, a primitive, patriarchal reading of Islam that is less informed by the Quran than by tribal and pre-Islamic notions of male dominance. In this worldview, a woman is not a partner in life and society but the property of a man and a potential source of “fitna” (moral disorder). Therefore, she must be confined within the home, kept in ignorance, and assigned solely to the roles of reproduction and servitude.
But the more important point is that excluding women from education is not the ultimate goal; it is a means to produce a generation that is ignorant, obedient, and devoid of the tools for critique and change. A child whose mother is illiterate will not have a bright future. The Taliban, fully aware of this truth, is pursuing a project of “generational destruction” through the elimination of women from education and public life. The ban on girls’ schooling, the closure of schools and universities, the dismissal of female teachers, threats against families who send their children to study, and the replacement of schools with Taliban-run institutions steeped in extremist ideology are all parts of a deliberate plan to stifle awareness and spread ignorance and extremism in Afghanistan and beyond. Ignorance is the foundation of Taliban power; awareness is its end.
3. The Unrelenting Struggle of Afghan Women
While politicians fled and global institutions looked on, it was Afghan women who stood their ground. Empty-handed, without support, and facing a machine of violence and terror, they took to the streets, shouted, wrote, demonstrated, were arrested, tortured, and killed, yet they did not fall silent. This struggle is not merely about education and employment; it is a full-scale fight to preserve human dignity, social existence, and the voice of future generations.
4. Global Silence and the Legitimization of Fundamentalism
More shocking than the fall of Afghanistan is the shameful silence, indeed, the disgraceful complicity of the international community. Nations that pride themselves on defending freedom and human rights are now normalizing relations with a group that has committed crimes against humanity. Russia, Germany, China, and other global and regional powers are engaging with the Taliban, as though forgetting that this is the same group that has erased women from public life, denied girls an education, and crushed dissent. Such policies not only legitimize violence and reactionary rule but also undermine the moral foundations of a human-rights-based global order. Today, human rights have become a selective, politicized tool — not a universal principle.
5. Why Does Our Voice Find No Echo?
Despite all the cries, the resistance, and the heavy price paid by Afghan women, a bitter question remains: why do global institutions not hear us? Why do the United Nations, the European Union, and the self-proclaimed defenders of freedom and human rights fail to provide tangible, meaningful support for Afghan women’s resistance? Is our suffering not “strategic” enough? Does our pain lack sufficient “political return”?
August 15: A Betrayal of Humanity
August 15, 2021, was not merely the date of a government’s collapse; it was a historic moment marking the fall of global morality, human values, and the very principles the international community claimed to defend for decades. It was the day not only Afghanistan fell, but also humanity’s trust in the promises of the so-called free world. This date serves as a poignant reminder of how nations can become unwitting victims of geopolitical bargains; how women, children, and intellectuals can be silently marginalized in the complex web of security deals; and how human rights institutions, which should be the refuge of the oppressed, can, at critical moments, lapse into paralysis and inaction.
In a world where the United Nations, the Security Council, and international bodies merely observe the repetition of crimes, it is the conscience of the people and the lessons of history that will one day cry out for justice. That day may be distant, but it is inevitable. History will judge not by what was written, but by what was ignored. On that day, Afghan women, empty-handed yet iron-willed, will stand beside the truth. They are not only the victims of this dark era, but also the awakened conscience of the future, a living reminder of a bitter yet necessary truth: silence in the face of injustice is a form of participation in the crime.
You can read the Persian version of this analysis here:
