Taliban

Since their rise in 1994, the Taliban have been a source of conflicting opinions. Their opponents have accused them of being created by Pakistan with the support of Saudi Arabia and the US oil company, UNOCAL, to secure trade routes to the Central Asia. Their supporters, on the other hand, hold that the Taliban are a religious and moral force that arose on their own from villages to save Afghans from the terror, lawlessness and corruption of Mujahideen era and to re-unite Afghanistan. The reality, however, seems somewhere in the middle. It is true that the immediate cause of the rise of Taliban was the fighting among Mujahideen groups that had virtually divided Afghanistan in separate fiefdoms resulting in carpet destruction of Kabul, killings of thousands of civilians, and general lawlessness.

Rise of taliban :

The cycle of violence, destruction, and chaos of the Mujahideen era created the condition for the rise of the puritanical Taliban. There are several versions of how a small group of taliban, led by Mullah Muhammad Omar took control of areas around Qandahar in 1994.

According to the most widely circulated account amongst the residents of Qandahar, a group of "madrasee" (belonging or originating from a Madrasa) taliban, headed by Mullah Mohammad Omar arrived in Afghanistan with the intent to re-establish law and order and to re-organize themselves. They took residence in a school near Dand in Qandahar. On September 20, 1994, an Afghan family on its way to Herat from Qandahar, was looted, its male members molested, and its female members were raped by gangs manning one of the so-called "check points" along the route. One of the victims escapes and reaches the newly established Taliban compound. The story goes that Mullah Omar and his followers rushed to the scene, capturing the perpetrators, executing them on the spot and then collecting and burying the bodies of the victims. They began consolidating their position and procuring weapons by winning the allegiance of several local military commanders.

Common Goals And Policies Of The Taliban :

The initial goals of the Taliban were to disarm the country, end lawlessness and enforce the Islamic law or the Sharia on a united Afghanistan.

Taliban's strict social policies and their anomalous interpretation of Islam have had detrimental effects on Afghans and have alienated them from the rest of the world. The Taliban initially banned all girls' schools, although more recently they have opened a handful of schools for girls under the age of 12. Women have to be covered from head to toe and be accompanied by a male relative when they go out on the streets. Taxi drivers have been admonished not to give ride to women unless they are covered fully. And women caught violating these rules have been beaten. Because of these policies, they have been accused of engaging in "gender apartheid."

In addition to their restrictions on women, men are required to grow untrimmed beards (considered to be Sunnah, something practiced and thus imitated from the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)) and pray five times a day( one of the five pillars of Islam). They have also cut the hands of thieves and stoned to death those who are convicted for adultery (as outlined, they maintain, by Islamic law). They have also banned kite flying, chicken fights, keeping pigeons and gambling (since they believe that this will lead to moral corruption). The Taliban continue to justify their policies by stressing that they continue to face a costly war and the country's infrastructure is totally destroyed to accommodate the needs of all. However, the Taliban's strict policies have made the lives of ordinary Afghans harder in what are already hard times.