Prof. Verinder Singh Manhas
The landlocked nation-state of Afghanistan is essentially an ethnic mystery and the ethnic structure barely known within the Afghan borderland and practically unknown to the outside world, is the underlying characteristic feature of all economic, social, administrative as well as the political framework of the nation state. Afghanistan as it exists today in the world system and more so in the West Asia realm, on the edge of South Asia, has been a corridor of travel where the transients underwent a long process of blending and adaptation before settling down into a complex synthesis of diverse characteristics.The main mountain range of Afghanistan is the Hindukush and it divides the country into northern and southern regions.The first census in Afghanistan was conducted in 1979 under the Khalq party. No national census has been conducted in Afghanistan since 1979, and years of war and population dislocation have made an accurate ethnic count impossible. According to UNPF, the present population of Afghanistan is 38.9 million. Afghanistan is a country with multiethnic population and mostly a tribal society. The population of the country consists of numerous ethnoliguistic groups. The main ethnoliguistic groups are: Pashtun(42%), Tajik(27%), Hazara(9%), Uzbek(9%), Aimak(4%), Turkmen(3%), Baloch (2%), and others(4%). The Hindukush divides the country into two regions i.e. northern region and the southern region. The Northern region may be subdivided into the Badakhshan-Vakhan region in the east and the Balkh region in the west. The east, which is mainly a conglomeration of mountains and high plateaus, is inhabited chiefly by Tajiks. There are also small numbers of Kyrgyz in the Vakhan in the extreme northeast, where they practice herding.The west, which is mostly plains,contains a mixture of Uzbeks and Turkmen predominate and are both of Turkic origin. The southern region can be subdivided into four regions-Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, and Aazarajat. The Kabul region combines the area drained by the Kabul River and the high plateau of eastern Afghanistan.
Emergence of Taliban in Afghanistan:
Taliban emerged in the early 1990s after the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan by Afghan mujahideen, or Islamic guerilla fighters. The former mujahidins who were disenchanted with the turmoil that had followed their victory became the nucleus of a movement that coalesced around Mullah Mohammad Omar, a former mujahid from Qandahar province. The group, many of whom were madrasa students, called themselves “Taliban”, meaning students. Many others who became core members of the group were commanders in other predominantly Pashtun parties, and former Khalqi PDPA members.Pashtuns are the predominant ethnic group in Afghanistan’s south and east along with the southern border countries of Afghanistan.Their main aim was to restore stability and enforce shariat law in the region. They successfully attacked local warlords and soon gained a reputation for military proficiency, and acquired an arsenal of captured weaponry. TheTaliban saw it as a way to secure trade routes to Central Asia and establish a government that secures its interests in Kabul.The Taliban took control of Herat in September 1995 and thereby cutting off the land route that connects the Islamic State of Afghanistan with Iran.In September 1996, Taliban seized the capital city of Kabul from President Burhanuddin Rabbani who is an ethnic Tajik and Taliban considered him as anti-Pashtun and corrupt.In October 1997 the Taliban changed the name of the country to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan with Mullah Mohammed Omar, a cleric and veteran of the anti-Soviet resistance, leading as amir al-mu’minin, or “commander of the faithful.”Through 1997 and 1998, the Taliban made repeated attempts to extend their control to the north of Afghanistan, where Dostum had carved out what amounted to a mini-state comprising five provinces which he administered from his headquarters in Shiberghan, west of the important city of Mazar-i Sharif. In August 1998 Taliban finally took control of Mazar-i Sharif. Shortly after taking control of Mazar-i Sharif, the Taliban took control of the town of Bamian, in the Hazara-dominated central highlands. The Taliban were at that time driven by two competing interests. The first was the aspiration to re-conquer Afghanistan and the second aspiration to re establish a caliphate. The first aspiration is Pashtun-centric while the second was more al Qaeda motivated. These two different goals caused friction in Taliban tactics. Now the question arises whether is it a terrorist organization, or an insurgent force? Preferably, it was thought that the Taliban would like to perform as an insurgent force, but it lacks the popular support and resources to make that possible. In areas under their control, Taliban authorities imposed their version of shariat law. They enacted policies that prohibited the women from working outside the home in activities other than health care. They even prohibited women from attending universities and closed schools for girls in Kabul and also in some other cities. Although primary schools for girls continued to operate in many other areas of the country under Taliban control, the Taliban also imposed a strict dress code for women, and required men to have beards and to abstain from Western haircuts or dress.
Taliban Today
Since the fifteen days, Taliban has emerged from south west Afghanistan towards north east hurdled by the Hindukush. Further north they were obstructed by the Uzbeks and Tajiks of Dostam. So the Taliban turns rightwards along the Hindukush and were confronted in Panjsheer and ultimately into Nangrahar. They finally overwhelmed Kabul. Taliban leaders say that they will hold talks with Afghan officials to form an “open, inclusive Islamic government.” Former Afghan President Karzai and Abdullah, formerly the chief executive under Ghani, have created a council to facilitate a peaceful transition to a Taliban government. The capture follows the Taliban’s rapid advance and captured all but two of Afghanistan’s provincial capitals and seized border crossings. Afghan security forces in some areas reportedly negotiated surrenders and avoided fighting the Taliban.
To understand the reality of Afghanistan is actually to understand ethnic mystery. Afghanistan is still in the civil wars and remains a corridor of travel between the west and the east and in case of India, Afghanistan still remains the country’s partner- cum- friend as a neighbouring country.
(The author is former HoD Geography, Jammu University)
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