New Taliban?

The ‘new’ Taliban are different from the old, at least according to Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman. Mujahid was quick to claim that the Taliban want to work with the world as he addressed his first press conference on behalf of what was hitherto addressed as an insurgent group. He repeated the claim that the Taliban would grant a general amnesty for Afghans who worked with foreign forces and that civil servants have nothing to fear and should return to work. “We don’t want any internal or external enemies,” he said.

Also significant is that Mujahid insisted, even before the press conference, that women’s education and right to work would be uninterrupted. There was, however, a caveat. He said women would be “very active in society but within the framework of Islam”. This framework is a matter of interpretation, and the ‘new’ Taliban’s interpretation is still not clear. The Taliban of the 1990s also claimed that their oppression of women was religiously sanctioned, so the nature and extent of relaxations remains to be seen.

The Taliban spokesperson also assured that the media would be allowed to operate independently, even inviting journalists to call out the future Taliban administration for anything wrong they would do. However, he did say that the press should not work against ‘national interests’ — a term that is usually just a euphemism for the interests of those who wield true power.

Mujahid also promised on behalf of the Taliban that Afghanistan would be made drug-free, and that Afghan soil would not be used to attack other countries. Even though that second point was already a requirement of the peace deal with the US, hearing it from the Taliban came as a relief for many in Pakistan and other neighbouring countries, as the TTP, Baloch separatists, and other regional terrorist groups had a relatively free hand in Hamid Karzai’s and Ashraf Ghani’s Afghanistan. This, and the Taliban’s claims of wanting to build a unity government, line up with Pakistan’s stated desire — peace in Afghanistan and an end to the export of drugs and terrorism.

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There was a bit of a side note to the press conference as some journalists who have been speaking to Mujahid over the years described him as ‘relatively moderate’. This could suggest that he also represents a more moderate Taliban, but it could also mean that hardline leaders might not be willing to adhere to the promises and assurances Mujahid was offering. Indeed, misreporting and propaganda is making piecing together the truth very difficult.

“Nobody is going to harm you, nobody is going to knock on your doors,” Mujahid promised. But some reports suggest that armed men have been knocking on people’s doors and harassing or assaulting them in several cities. The Taliban claim these are criminals posing as Taliban. Meanwhile, some reports suggest that Taliban are knocking on doors, asking if there are women inside, and politely handing out “head coverings” — not burkas or niqabs — to houses where women are present.

However, Mujahid’s conciliatory tone was not enough to calm nerves in Afghanistan, as thousands of people continued trying to flee. However, even here, there have been conflicting claims that the Taliban at the airport were not actively stopping anyone from leaving and were only trying to bring order to the chaos, albeit with gunfire into the air and other violent measures.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19^th, 2021.

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