As Pakistan and India celebrated their Independence Days on the 14th and 15th of August, respectively, the Taliban marked three years of rule in Afghanistan on August 14, 2024 at Bagram Air Base near Kabul. During the celebration, the Taliban’s supreme spiritual leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, stated that they had transformed Afghanistan into a Sharia-based Islamic country and would continue to uphold and enforce Islamic law as long as they remained in power. The Taliban regained power in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021 immediately after U.S. troops and NATO withdrew from the country. Following the disintegration of Afghan security forces, the Taliban seized control and imposed a strict interpretation of Sharia law, quickly instituting heavy restrictions on women’s rights, including bans on education, mobility, employment, and public activities.
The Taliban insurgents had been fighting foreign troops for most of the twenty years. However, it is deeply ironic that after so much time and resources were spent, the country fell back into the hands of the very force that foreign troops had been fighting against. It stands as a dark chapter in world history that all the efforts to protect human rights failed overnight after decades of intervention and claims of establishing democracy.
Economic crisis
According to Graeme Smith, a senior analyst on Afghanistan with the Crisis Group, the Taliban quickly declared a new government after their takeover, which remains unrecognised by any foreign state or international institution. Western donors immediately cut off the development aid that had covered 75 per cent of the previous government’s expenditures. Smith points out that, along with the abrupt end of the war, economy and other factors, this cutoff plunged Afghanistan into an economic and humanitarian crisis.
The livelihoods of the Afghan population have been severely affected, with their national currency plummeting in value. Although most development aid has been cut off, some humanitarian support continues from Afghanistan’s neighbours and Islamic states. Smith’s analysis indicates that during the three years of renewed Taliban rule, some aspects of Afghan life have deteriorated while others have seen slight improvements. However, the institutionalised exclusion of women and girls from many aspects of public life negates any potential benefits that should be available to them. The withdrawal of support by the Western world has not led to the Taliban easing their control over the lives of women and girls, nor is there any indication of a potential downfall of the Taliban regime.
Whatever aid the Taliban receives has mostly been used to improve the lives of marginalised populations in remote areas that were neglected by the previous government. They have encouraged humanitarian aid for these regions, which is a positive development. However, the draconian restrictions imposed by the Taliban on Afghan girls and women are a profound affront to the fundamental rights. The fact that, after decades of intervention aimed at establishing democracy and upholding human rights, the Taliban seized power and stripped Afghan girls and women of their basic rights is a stark reminder of the failures of global geopolitics. In today’s world, where girls and women are barred from public schools, universities, and professional careers solely because of their gender, it is nothing short of barbaric. This atrocity suggests that international treaties and human rights declarations may be failing.
Poverty and unemployment have worsened in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s takeover. Foreign governments stopped all development assistance overnight, and, according to Smith, donors halted numerous projects, including those related to energy, transportation, and irrigation, amounting to more than USD 2.8 billion. The World Bank estimates that the country lost about 26 per cent of its real gross domestic product in 2021 and 2022. Statistics show that millions of Afghans slipped into poverty in the first months after the Taliban’s return, with many facing starvation, as 55 per cent of the population suffered from acute hunger. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the share of Afghans in the worst categories of food insecurity declined to 28 per cent by 2024, but the emergency still ranks among the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
Burden of malnutrition
When disaster strikes, it is often the marginalised communities, especially girls and women, who suffer the most. The burden of malnutrition, in particular, falls most heavily on girls in poor families. According to Médecins Sans Frontières, mortality rates among girls are 90 per cent higher than among boys. The economic stagnation has hit young Afghan men and women hard, with many entering the labour market only to find that migrant workers were forced to return home. According to the Crisis Group, 600,000 Afghan migrant workers were forced to return from Pakistan alone since September 2023, with similar numbers from Iran. The International Labour Organisation estimates that women’s employment has been hit hardest, decreasing by 25 per cent since the Taliban takeover, compared to a 7 per cent drop for men.
Women are now banned from many government jobs. Forced dress codes, gender-segregated facilities, and mandatory chaperones complicate their ability to work in the sectors still open to them. As the Taliban continues to exhibit inhumane behaviour toward women, the rest of the world must seriously consider strategies to restore the human rights of the Afghan people, particularly women. There is a need to understand where the world went wrong and to take steps to amend these failures.
(Sharma is a senior journalist and women’s rights advocate. namrata1964@yahoo.com. Twitter handle: @NamrataSharmaP)
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