The panic symbolised by the chaos shown in viral videos from Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International airport is largely over. But the people of Afghanistan are still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Hopes mingle with fears as there is still no clarity as to what life under the Taliban is going to be like, especially for women and those ideologically opposed to the Taliban.
Many in the rural areas say they have felt no change after the Taliban takeover. Their lives continue to follow the set patterns and familiar routines as before. The residents of urban areas have not been so lucky.
People in the urban centres as Kabul and other provincial capitals have been expressing their fears and concerns. Still, there are those who have hopes for a better future. Still others welcome the end to conflict. The war has stopped after decades of bloodshed in Afghanistan.
The majority of the tens of thousands of Afghans who fled the country feared the Taliban’s wrath for the jobs they had when the US and international forces were on ground.
At the start, when Taliban took control of Afghanistan, there was extreme anxiety as there was no government in Kabul for three weeks. Everyone was focused to see when the government would be announced and who would be in the government. The people were confused as to what will be the next order of the day. Analysts believe it will take time to bring life to normalcy.
There have since been scattered incidents of violence against women, house-to-house searches by Taliban fighters in the cities as reported in the media. However, the Taliban have contradicted such reports, and assured the people to live with peace as there is a complete amnesty for all.
“Life is not normal for us”, an Afghan woman told The Truth International (TTI). “I have been at home since Taliban took over Kabul. Anything can happen, and let’s see how life returns to normal.
“I have returned to my job. No one stopped me or questioned me. But the fears and concerns are there.” A resident of Kabul, she wished not to be identified.
Taliban leadership has been repeatedly assuring people and the world at large that they would respect women in line with Islamic principles. However, the Taliban have not made the guidelines public for working women or students.
Initially, Taliban instructed universities and educational institutions to bisect classrooms with curtains to segregate male and female students. “So far no direct interference in the campus, but have drawn a curtain in the classrooms,” a university teacher in a private university told in a telephone interview.
“Taliban fighters are on their security duties outside the campus. They are not entering the campus, but we do take precautionary measures.”
Time alone will tell if the Taliban have really changed now from its previous rule during 1996-2001 or if this is just a myth, far from reality. Supporters of the Taliban in Afghani- stan and abroad insist it would not be the replay of late 1990s.
Twenty years have passed since the Taliban last ruled Afghanistan. Time has totally changed, especially in the urban centres of Afghanistan. Many of today’s urban young have the advantage of modern education. The young men and women have access to the highly digitalised world, making it difficult for the Taliban to govern Afghanistan.
The Taliban, styled the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, have announced an interim government headed by Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund, a close and trusted aide to the founder of Taliban Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a deputy minister for information and culture, and a key spokesman of Taliban, has stated in his press conference, “We have consultations with everyone in Afghanistan.”
One of the deputies to the head of the interim government Abdus Salam Hanafi is ethnically Uzbek and a senior member of the Taliban Rahbari Shura or leadership council. Qari Fasih Uddin, the interim army chief is said to be ethnically Tajik. But there is no one from the previous regime, and women.
The Afghan people were said to be tired of wars, fightings and violence for decades have a hope to see the bloodshed stopped, and there should be peace and security in the country. Some people are happy to have defeated the mighty US led coalition and got their sovereignty back.
Over a 100,000 people were evacuated from Afghanistan until the last troop withdrew from Kabul on 31st August 2021. The US and its allies are still pushing the Taliban to allow Afghans with the US citizenship, or visa to fly abroad.
The Taliban say there are technical issues on the airports, and only the planes with humanitarian goods or special guests are allowed to land in or take off from the airports around the country.
