Naseebullah Khan
Sane are those who take lessons from previous mistakes and accommodatate themselves with the emerging challenges of the time. Alteration in policies is the charm and the basic prerequisite of progress and development but those who stuck themselves with obsolete and failed policies and donot learn from previous mistakes are swept away sooner or later. The same is happening with the Taliban 2.0 who have continued their 2 decades old foiled conservative policies owing to which darkness in Afghanistan still continues. Despite focusing on meeting the challenges of economic fragility, abysmal healthcare system, declining education sector, pathetic human rights violations, deeply penetrated poverty, emerging unemployment, soaring hunger, bad governance, political instability and ending international isolation- the Taliban 2.0 are wasting their energies in wrong directions. Let us have a look on some indicators. The economy of the country is on ventilator.
The World bank in its report warns that the GDP will contract close to 30-35 percent between 2021 and 2022. Unemployment and poverty are increasing with an accelerated speed where employment has reached up to 25 percent which was 11.2 percent in 2021.
The UNDP fears that 97 percent of Afghan could plunge into poverty by mid 2022. As far as hunger is concerned according to global hunger index Afghanistan,s rank is 109th in 121 countries. Whilst, the HDI score of the country is 0.496 that ranks it on number 170th out of 177. The healthcare system has gone down. Currently, 17% of over 2,300 health facilities funded under the Sehatmandi project which was a 600 millions dollars project that was started by the WHO.
The UN observes that 23 million people are at risk of malnutrition including 2.3 million children. Lo and behold, the education system of the country is on decline. Women education has banned. Due to lack of salaries many teachers and lecturers have left their jobs. Muhammad Osman Baburi who was the Vice Chancellor of Kabul University was replaced by Muhammad Ashraf a journalist graduate from the same university.
According to the BBC a snipper of Taliban has appointed as director of land and urban development in Balkh. It reflects how the Taliban regime is governing the country. Regrettably, the violation of basic human rights is on its peak. The UNHR observes that the Taliban were responsible for 40 percent of civilian deaths in extra judicial killing in first 6 months. Media has been suffocated. Reporters without borders says in its report that the Taliban takeover, 40% of Afghan media have closed 6,400 journalists have lost their jobs since 15 August.
The government has started flogging and public executions. On the other side, no country in the world has recognized the Taliban regime that has made Afghanistan internationally isolated. In spite of burning midnight oil to solve these challenges the Taliban are engaged in an aimless, rudderless, and lusterless priorities. Their preferences are to suffocate media, to crush women and human rights, to bulldoze females education, to curb freedom, to throw national unity in the cave of darkness, to behade and flog people, to use authoritative means to create fear among the masses, to not allow political stability and a national government, and to let the humanitarian crises and economic downturn by not abiding by international norms and values. When Stubbornness, shortsightedness, and incapacity penetrate a government the end result is always gloomy. This is what we have witnessing during the Taliban 2.0 that further testifies that Afghanistan, currently is heading towards destruction. The 21st century is a century of competition.
It demands robust, productive, and hollistic policies and going shoulder by shoulder with international community within the parameters of international law. While, the current policies of the Taliban 2.0 do not fit in the scenario which are pathetic, faild, unaccepted, distgusing, gloomy and destructive.
