The past few days have been very chaotic and challenging for the Afghani people. Soon after the USA pulled his troops out from Afghanistan, the situation started deteriorating. Taliban, the ruthless terrorist organization which kills innocent people in the name of Jihad, started taking over the country. They initially attacked and captured smaller cities and kept moving forward to capture more important cities like Kandahar. On the 15th of August, 2021, reports came in, saying that the Taliban is approaching Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan, and it is willing to consider a peaceful transfer of power. Since then, Afghanistan is covered in an air of uncertainty and chaos. US Air Force helicopters and planes were seen extracting officials and other cooperative Afghans. Other countries also made arrangements for the safe passage of their officers and ambassadors. Soon after, it was told that the elected president, Ashraf Ghani, had fled the country. This news was confirmed by Mr. Ghani, who posted about it on his Facebook timeline, citing that he did this so that no bloodbath occurs. All the governments around the world are working on their foreign policies and preparing their evaluations. Some countries have already announced to accept the legitimacy of the Taliban government if they meet certain conditions.
All these rapid changes were very hard to digest for the general public of Afghanistan, who were under a democratic government a few days ago. After capturing Kabul, videos of armed Talibani terrorists inside the president’s residence started surfacing on the media and the internet. It was clear that Afghanistan was now under the control of the Taliban, which means that they have to follow the strict Islamic law called Sharia law. Sharia law is one of the most regressive forms of law, which does not allow women the same freedom as men. It is entirely against the existence of any nonbinary gender, for which they are given death punishment. The people are horrified and insecure about their future. Women working in banks have already been told to step down, which is the case with female news anchors. Images of women in advertisements of cosmetics and apparel were seen being washed off.
Almost a decade ago, when the Taliban was in control of Afghanistan, the country’s people were living a tough life. Fundamental rights weren’t allowed to the people. The ones who suffered the most during those times were the female population. They were not allowed to work. They were not allowed to get out of their homes without any male relative accompanying them. They were given no voting rights. They always wore the burqa and wholly covered their body; wearing a modern western dress was not an option. They were supposed to be submissive to their husbands, no matter what. They were even denied the fundamental right to education. Young girls were married off at a tender age to husbands who were twice their age or even more.
Due to all these reasons, people are terrified of their lives. They are afraid of what the Taliban will do once everything settles down and gains complete control over Afghanistan. Minorities like Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists are worried about their existence, as their population has already reduced rapidly due to forced conversions and killings. Even Ahmadiyya Muslims are afraid of the future. So, most of them are trying to get out of the country in one way or the other. People were seen falling from the sky, who wanted to get out of the country holding the plane’s tires. It can be expected that the brutal actions of the previous Taliban rule will come back again, due to which people are so scared.
Few countries are looking into the option of taking in refugees. India and the USA have already started. India is looking forward to making special VISA arrangements. Apart from that, Canada is also looking forward to making arrangements for the Sikhs and other minorities to take refuge.
All these facts point out that the region is incomplete unrest. Being in a volatile area ruled by terrorists, people are terrified for all the right reasons. With people scared of their fundamental rights and their life at some point in time, it can be said that the citizens are in colossal duress. At such a time, we must support the Afghan people and create a permanent solution that can provide those people a better life in the coming years.
