By Paiman Arman
It is the dominant perception is that the Taliban did not win power by relying on its own abilities, competences and popular support, nor that its administration now stands by its own abilities and public approval.
In the past, those in power were corrupt, discriminatory, and incompetent, and now there is no strong alternative with widespread social support that has the ability to mobilize and challenge the Taliban administration and have the support of the international community.
The Taliban, which lack domestic and international legitimacy and do not have a constitution, programs, budget, or efficient governing structure, are barbarically lording over Afghan society. They trample over basic human rights and principles They do not tolerate the slightest dissent, snuffing out any such voices through kidnapping, detention, torture, and murder. They have banned women’s education and music. They have repurposed sports stadiums into public locales for their spectacles of floggings, stonings, and executions. They forcibly evict people from their homes and steal food, resources, and facilities at will. They are outside the bounds of international norms and antagonistic to the rules of international law.
In 2021, we were freed from the government of thieves only to be caught in the web of the government of murderers. The Taliban’s unlawful activities go largely unreported due to a media blackout imposed by their repression and censorship.
What does all this mean?
It means not only are the Taliban ignorant of international law but they also lack care for the consequences of violating those laws. They violate moral principles rooted in asabiyyah. Each of those issues could be grounds for failure and collapse, but the world is tired of us and has other priorities. We lack unity, are aimless, without a plan, plagued by fear, and lacking the capacity to win the trust of the international community. We are unmotivated, unable to form a movement aimed at fighting for a democratic political system.
Until now, the prevailing perception is that if the Taliban fails, it will be the result of their ignorance, incompetence, oppression, and discrimination. Yet, currently, there is no force capable of creating an existential threat for the Taliban. Ordinary people are frustrated, fearful, hungry and suffering from poverty. The youth are scattered. The political elite is corrupt and exploitative, with no capacity for solidarity and teamwork. The international community has abandoned Afghanistan. Only brave women’s groups have continued to protest. They are subjected to wanton oppression and violence.
The women’s protests are very inspiring in the traditional Afghan society, which has been so diminished that it has minimal capacity to form its own protest movement. The women’s protests have been like moving in a minefield. Without the formation of an inclusive movement mobilizing all forces and capacities, our journey will be much longer and its material and spiritual cost will be backbreaking.
The Taliban’s lack of administrative capacity as well as its lack of domestic and international legitimacy provides opportunities to the people to use those same principles of law and world public opinion to influence policies of foreign nations toward supporting the people, especially the women, of Afghanistan. Yet, for all those opportunities, we have achieved little.
Our biggest problem is the disastrous combination of religion and power. Our point of departure is the failure of political Islam in social and political management. Islamic revivalists have tried to present an alternative to democracy but failed.
Secular democracy is the most successful model of governance in the contemporary history of the world. In my opinion, we need a movement with an inclusive democratic discourse. The prerequisite for such a movement is unity for a collective demand.
I think that unifying demand can be the desire for secular democracy and the determination to be the masters of your own destiny in a democratic system, in which the people are in charge and there is a separation of religion and state.
It is not possible to mobilize a movement if we don’t have that collective ideal. Therefore, to overcome the crisis of public trust in politics, young men and women have a duty to pioneer this movement and take leadership roles from the old incompetent leadership.
Now is the time to unite and fight for a collective demand: secular democracy!
Paiman Arman is the pseudonym for a writer and human rights activist.
