Months before the Taliban seized power and even before the districts were mysteriously handed over to the Taliban, the ordinary people of Afghanistan and those who were not involved in political developments were preparing for hard times.
Ever since the Doha agreement was signed and when the Taliban prisoners were released, everyone knew that the country has fallen into cultural, economic and political decline. Most leaders, experts, diplomats and well-known politicians examined different scenarios and hardly any of them talked about the return of Taliban rule with “original” features. Everyone was promoting propaganda that the Taliban had changed. However, by accepting the orders of the Taliban in relation to their lifestyle, people showed that they understand the priority better and know what era is ahead.
The Taliban who were introduced in the negotiation tables, diplomatic meetings and even the media were not the same as the Taliban that people knew. During the entire period of 20 years away from power, that group carried out field trials, whipping and stoning in the places where they had influence, and there was no change in their behavior except for minor differences in form. During all that time, they kept their parallel administration active, and as a result, when a large part of the Afghan people heard that the Taliban would return, they knew that whipping, starvation, immigration, discrimination and suppression of freedoms would return.
In the last 15 months of Taliban rule, international institutions, embassies and politicians have repeatedly said that they are disappointed with the Taliban and that this group has not fulfilled its obligations and does not respect human rights. The Taliban are gradually applying their “Emirate” regulations on the society and loudly saying that they are seeking to establish a government based on the personal orders of the “Amir al-Momineen” and will not submit to any law and rule except Sharia according to their own interpretation.
Lately, public floggings have increased and, like the first Taliban rule in the 1990s, they have turned sports centers into torture exhibitions. They published a notice inviting people to participate in watching the punishment of men and women. They are not afraid of media coverage of the punishment. People also collectively watch the torture of their fellow human beings, without being surprised, saying that they are shocked to see such scenes. Why be shocked? One should be surprised if one day it is seen that the Taliban respect the rights and freedoms of the people. If one day the Taliban say they want elections, accept civil laws and stop torturing and harassing people, it should be surprising. Those who say they are shocked by the Taliban’s behavior are perhaps actors of the Taliban’s purification show and are still trying to deceive people by creating doubts about the Taliban’s backwardness and tyranny, or they really don’t know that group.