By Imtiaz Gul

With every passing day, the international community seems to be reconciling itself with the idea of “practical engagement “instead of formally recognizing Afghanistan’s Taliban regime. The ultra-radical militia that swept back to power in August 2021 refuses to allow girls and women back to secondary and higher education and work. For them the issue relates to their version of Islamic sharia and also rooted in the tribal culture and hence a non- negotiable under the current circumstances. The world, on the contrary, insists females must be free to pursue education and work but finds it difficult to resort to the extreme step i.e. further sanctions and disengagement.

No surprise that in December (2022) the regime declined, on the eleventh hour, to receive a UN delegation in Kandahar, the literal Mecca of the militia. The internationals intended to raise the women’s’ issue with the top leadership but were politely told off.

In mid-January Ms Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, led a delegation to capital Kabul for meetings including one with the Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. She also managed to get audience with a deputy minister in Kandahar.

Ms Mohammad’s visit came to the context of a harsh crackdown on Afghan women; the regime ordered most female NGO staff to suspend their activities until further. Girls had already been barred from attending universities. Women are also shut out of public parks and baths – that have been so common in cities such as Kabul and Mazare Sharif in the north.

These restrictions prompted the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to say the Taliban are trying to sentence Afghanistan’s women “to a dark future without opportunity” by banning them from attending universities.”

Ms Mohammed told Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in the meeting (January 18) that the purpose of her visit was aimed at “witnessing the situation up close” and delivering the international community’s message about women’s access to education and work, according to Taliban officials.

Muttaqi in turn raised the issue of recognition to his government and the continued UN-US sanctions on Afghanistan’s banking sector as well as on many Taliban leaders. Traders are unable to transfer funds to even import food items. This situation, he said, was causing problems for ordinary Afghans as well as the trading community and warrants urgent attention.

Minister Muttaqi had another point to make too; “If 1 million [girl] students are without education here, but what about those 9 million students, including boys and girls, who are going to schools?” Muttaqi asked. “They are also humans and need assistance to overcome issues facing them,” he quipped in the typical Taliban way of defensive argumentation.

The foreign minister recounted that his government had established peace in Afghanistan on its own returning to power and “narcotics cultivation has dropped to zero,” noting the country used to be the biggest drug producer in the world before the Taliban takeover in August 2021.

But critics familiar with the Afghan mindset argue the Taliban may be leveraging the strict women’s’ rights regime to induce recognition – something the US-led West has denied them so far. Most Taliban leaders remain on a UN terror sanctions’ list and their travels are dependent on a committee comprising the five permanent members of the Security Council.

“My message was very clear: while we recognize the important exemptions made, these restrictions present Afghan women and girls with a future that confines them in their own homes, violating their rights and depriving the communities of their services,” the UN official said aid in a statement after the visit. In Kandahar she Mohammed met with Deputy Governor Maulvi Hayatullah Mubarak, who reiterated Muttaqi’s message and said that would enable the Taliban to send an ambassador to the U.N.

“Right now, Afghanistan is isolating itself, in the midst of a terrible humanitarian crisis and one of the most vulnerable nations on earth to climate change,” Mohammed said.

The World Body had in December put off for a second time a decision on whether to allow the Taliban administration n send an ambassador to New York.

Operating in a cocoon?

Irrespective of how the world looks at them, the ruling Taliban elite believes the world may reconcile with restrictions on the female population.

Foreign minister Muttaqi also recounted his government’s success in bringing peace in Afghanistan and restricting “narcotics cultivation” to near zero. A U.N. report published in November acknowledged the strict ban on opium production in April 2022 but nevertheless claimed it had been ineffective and that the opium production increased by 32% last year.

At a press conference in capital Kabul (January 22) Muttaqi also drew attention to what he called a “positive evolution “of the world view on the militia.

“But you must have heard the foreign minister of the United States the other day when he acknowledged that Afghanistan no more poses a threat,” the minister said in reference to a statement by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, which the minister projected as an endorsement for his government’s policies.

“We’ve not seen an upsurge in terrorism coming out of Afghanistan… In fact, we’ve demonstrated that to the extent that terrorists and there and being harbored there, we’re able to actually get at them, as we were able to do with Zawahiri,” Blinken said at an event at Chicago University (January 20).

Blinken’s statement apart, is the world in general gradually reconciling itself with the Taliban rule as an unwanted but unavoidable reality that we all need to learn to live with? Or else force millions of Afghans into poverty and hunger?

Besides offering advice as consultant to foreign diplomatic missions and development sector organizations, Gul regularly appears as an analyst / expert on Pakistani TV channels as well as the Doha-based Al-Jazeera English/Arabic satellite TV channel for his expertise in areas such as Afghanistan/Tribal Areas / and the Kashmir militancy.

Imtiaz Gul has over 35 years of journalistic experience. Gul regularly appears as an analyst/expert on Pakistani and foreign TV channels as well as the Doha-based Al-Jazeera English/Arabic satellite TV channel for his expertise in areas such as Afghanistan/Tribal Areas/and the Kashmir militancy. He has authored several books.