Every day, the Taliban further alienates themselves from the Afghan people. Each decree they issue and enforce widens the gap between the Taliban and the population. While this policy may seem intended to strengthen their governance, it is ultimately self-destructive and paves the way for the downfall of their authoritarian regime. The most recent order from the Taliban is the closure of women’s beauty salons. Although the Taliban present themselves as champions of religion, they use their own interpretations of hadith and verses to suppress the people and undermine national interests. Often, the decisions and orders made by this group have a distinct political agenda. Through the implementation of brutal punishments such as hudud and qisas, stoning and burying individuals without a legitimate court or fair trial, as well as torture and whipping, the Taliban seek to instill fear in society.
The closure of women’s beauty salons serves to perpetuate poverty. The Taliban are aware that decades of war in the country have claimed the lives of many men, leaving numerous families headed by women. In some regions of Afghanistan, certain individuals and groups, though not exclusively the Taliban, have hindered women’s education. This opposition to women’s education has weakened their ability to provide for themselves and attain economic independence. Even those women who managed to pursue education in the relatively open urban areas during the two decades of democracy lost their employment opportunities in government offices when the Taliban seized control of Kabul. Subsequently, they gradually lost other job prospects. Consequently, poverty is amplified in society, and this aligns with the Taliban’s objectives. Thus, the closure of beauty salons is driven more by politics than religion.
For women engaged in hairdressing, the beauty salon serves as both their workplace and a platform to combat poverty and hunger. The salon holds immense value for them, enabling them to support their families financially. In many cases, these women bear the sole responsibility of providing for their families through their hairstyling work. However, the Taliban view the beauty salon differently. To them, it is not only regarded as unholy but also antithetical to their values. For an authoritarian regime, anything that does not serve its interests is deemed unholy.
The Taliban also find support among segments of society in devaluing the hairdressing profession. In some cases, individuals within this spectrum consider begging for money more honorable than earning money through hairdressing. The Taliban adopt a similar mindset. This group plays a significant role in promoting begging and increasing the number of beggars. Moreover, they intentionally impoverish the nation, transforming it into a land of beggars, in order to bring them closer to their political objectives. By deliberately emptying people’s pockets and wallets, they ensure that hungry and destitute people are easier to govern under autocratic rule.
The hungry masses do not contemplate politics, rights, or freedoms. Men and women who witness their children’s hunger are consumed by the desperate pursuit of finding a morsel of bread to fill their children’s empty stomachs. They have little room left for political struggle or the pursuit of rights. Their priorities differ as well. For a starving family, freedom of speech and the right to political participation are not paramount. A mother embracing a hungry child is not preoccupied with fighting against compulsory hijab or advocating for gender equality. This scenario can be generalized to the majority of society. Impoverishing people to distract them with survival and divert their attention from politics has a historical precedent in the country. Afghan historian and writer Ghulam Muhammad Ghobar writes about Nader Khan’s autocratic rule: “The government also focused on the economy and the needs of the nation. The rulers of Afghanistan, aware of their experience in India, knew that it is easier to exert arbitrary rule over impoverished masses than prosperous and peaceful ones. Consequently, the government maintained a state of poverty and extreme need through monopolistic economic practices, exploitative trade, excessive taxation, administrative tyranny, and the exploitation of peasants and shepherds.” (Ghobar, Afghanistan in the Course of History, Vol. 2: 47)
The Taliban desire an impoverished but compliant Afghan society. A society where citizens question their behavior and challenge their rule is unacceptable to Mullah Hibatullah and his comrades. Therefore, they employ various means, including the spread of poverty and fear, to solidify the fragile foundations of their authoritarian rule. Ghobar’s assessment of Nader Khan also applies to the Taliban. He writes: “The purpose of this government’s pressure, meticulously devised by colonial planners and psychologically impactful on people’s souls, was to transform the brave nation of Afghanistan into a beggarly, submissive, and defeated society akin to lifeless bodies handled by government undertakers, preparing it for the country’s division or submission to colonialism.” (Ibid., 58) The Taliban, too, require beggars and subservient individuals to maintain their rule for a little longer, thus they continually deprive them of their sustenance and instill fear.
For individuals, their occupation and source of income hold sanctity. If the Taliban’s occupation is fighting and killing, they always deem it sacred, using religious slogans to justify the bloodshed endured over the course of nearly three decades. The prevailing notion regarding the Taliban is that its members are driven solely by ideology, but recent observations during their second term in government suggest a departure from pure ideology in pursuit of political interests. Their camaraderie with the Islamic Jurist Guardianship of Iran, Russia, and China serves as an example.
It is possible that the foot soldiers effectively fighting on the frontlines are oblivious to Mullah Hibatullah’s ideological aspirations. They may have no understanding of his vision for an ideal society. Equipping them with guns and granting them the freedom to act as they please is sufficient for these warriors. They are disconnected from Mullah Hibatullah’s ideology and Mullah Baradar’s political maneuvers. Their world revolves around their guns and the daily imposition of their will on the people. However, the political games of Mullah Baradar, the Haqqani network’s suicide attacks, Mullah Hibatullah’s blind ideology, and the Russian Kalashnikovs and American M-4 rifles of Taliban fighters are all sacred in their eyes. These actions are, in fact, their tools. The Taliban warriors’ tool is their gun, while a barber’s tool is their barbershop and its accessories. Each individual considers their respective tools sacred. To an impartial observer, a tool that does not involve bloodshed, take lives, deprive individuals of their livelihoods, limit societal freedoms, or infringe upon the rights of a nation would be considered sacred. Between the barber’s brush and the Taliban’s gun, the brush holds greater sanctity.
