Freedoms under the Taliban

The leadership of the Taliban takes an incredibly extremist interpretation of culture and religion to define their state leadership. I remembered one thing Dr. Quimby said about some members of lower levels of the Taliban being more radicalized than the upper-level leadership and supporting women’s education under Islam. This made me think of the Taliban’s grip on power, and how they have been holding onto it. While the human rights abuses in Afghanistan are obvious, the Taliban lies publically and denounces this. They have rejected UN reports on human rights violations there and denied that foreign militants and domestic security threats have increased in Afghanistan since 2021, with a spokesperson saying the country is enjoying its greatest stability of the past 40 years. While journalists expose the horrors, the Taliban presents a unified and defiant front. Otherwise, any sign of weakness could be seen as an opportunity for the many who rightfully oppose them to make a striking act for power. They are blatantly lying on the world stage, and the contradiction is clearly visible to the rest of the world. However, by the Taliban refusing to admit their own atrocities or condemn them, they perpetuate that those in their ranks cannot either. Even if members of the police do not support the actions they are carrying out, they continue in fear of what would happen to them if they rebelled. This power system of abuse and murder upholds the Taliban, discouraging opposition and ensuring the silence of any member who would possibly dare.

Because of this, I wonder what more is being done for the girls in Afghanistan and the future girls of SOLA, as well as the many girls who weren't able to get into SOLA. The Taliban will never give women the right to education as they agreed in 2021. If the Taliban were to eliminate aspects of their regime that now provide critical power, like the exclusion of women's education and the confinement of women to the home, they could exemplify that the country is not as stable as they claim to be and open up the leadership to opposition that might now weave up from within or elsewhere. Afghanistan is the only country in the world where women don't have the right to an education after 6th grade, and the treatment of women will only get worse. Today, one of the major barriers for Afghan refugees to escape famine and oppression is the U.S. government’s visa processing. 77,000 Afghans are waiting on Special Immigrant Visas. This number increases to 346,500 with dependants in the US.. Many have saved American lives, as interpreters, or for military, intelligence and aid agencies. Still, the system is far too slow and complicated, and on average takes three years. Half the applicants for initial approval are denied.  The airlift that brought so many women and girls out of Afganistan is amazing, however, this does not mean we can lose sight of all the women and girls left in Afganistan, some who are not the brightest or smartest yet just because they haven’t gotten the chance to be.