The plan for the Pashtunization of Afghanistan, in fact, if it defines an implacable enemy, then only Persian culture and language. For Afghanistan to acquire a Pashtun cultural identity, the Persian identity and language must be destroyed.
Author: Nurulla Valizade, writer and political analyst, especially for Sangar
ANALYSIS OF THE MOTIVES AND CAUSES OF THE WAR WITH THE TALIBAN
The war against the Taliban has different motives and reasons. Various social, political, cultural and religious groups are at odds with the Taliban. Before turning to the motives and reasons for the war with the Taliban, it is necessary to give a brief definition of them in order to explain the motives and reasons for the war with this group.
Taliban definition:
The Taliban are an ethnic and religious group. The ethnic group to which the Taliban belong is the Pashtuns. Many believe that ethnicity is at the core of the Taliban's thinking and agenda, but because Afghan society is a religious community, the Taliban use religion as a front. Of course, this is something the Taliban disagree with.
Another point that is important for identifying the Taliban is whether this group is an intelligence group or is heavily dependent on foreign intelligence services, in particular Pakistan's military intelligence - ISI. This made it difficult to identify the Taliban. The leaders of the Pakistan-led group are always hidden from the public eye so as not to reveal the group's obscure identity.
The Taliban emerged in Pakistan in the last decade of the twentieth century (1994) when various jihadist factions were at war with the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani in Afghanistan. Thus, the prevailing analysis is that the Taliban are the work of the ISI and are working to further Pakistan's expansionist goals.
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In the first part, we examined the socio-ethnic motives and causes of the war against the Taliban.
The last war of non-Pashtuns, or why did the Tajik become enemy No. 1 of the Pashtuns?
The second part examined the motives and political reasons for the war with the Taliban.
The last war of non-Pashtuns, or why it is necessary to fight the Taliban?
This section examines the cultural motivations and causes of the war with the Taliban.
CULTURAL MOTIVES AND REASONS FOR THE WAR WITH THE TALIBAN
The destruction of Buddhist statues in Bamyan during the first period of Taliban rule in Afghanistan* is considered a prime example of the group's anti-cultural views, but the group's hostility to culture is not limited to one, two or ten specific cases. The Taliban is in conflict with everything cultural and artistic, unless it has a Taliban aspect.
The Taliban feud with music, drawing, painting, sculpture, cinema and other aspects of art and literature for a variety of reasons.
The hostility of the Taliban to culture and cultural and historical heritage has two main religious and ethnic factors.
Religious factor:
From a religious point of view, the Taliban's hostility to culture and cultural-historical artifacts is based on narratives about religion, which, from the point of view of scholars and researchers of religion, do not have a solid religious basis. Relying on historical-religious narratives in the case of enmity with culture and antiquities is rather a reflection of the abuse of religious teachings by political-Islamic movements and, in the most optimistic case, a reflection of the misunderstandings that have developed in this area.
When the Taliban blew up a large Buddha statue in Bamyan 22 years ago, according to historical sources, it was called a tradition of "destroying idols" since the time of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi.
Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi was very fond of being called the "destroyer of idols." "Destroyer of idols" is also a title given to the Prophet Abraham, one of the most famous prophets in religious discourse. According to historical narratives, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi destroyed pre-Islamic statues and relics, based on one of the Qur'anic stories.
In the suras "Anbiyo" and "Safat" of the Holy Quran, where the prophets are mentioned, the story of breaking the idol by Abraham is mentioned.
The content of the Qur'anic story is that the prophet Abraham for a long time tried to invite the pagans of his time to turn away from idolatry and turn to monotheism, but his call did not produce results. Pagans do not renounce their religion. Finally, the prophet Abraham decides to smash the idols of one of the famous temples in the vicinity of his area with an ax, and then hang the ax around the neck of a large idol. When the people saw this scene, knowing that this was the work of Abraham, they interrogated him and brought him to trial. During the trial, the prophet Abraham says that the idols were broken by a large idol and go and ask him. When the judge says that an idol cannot speak, the prophet Abraham asks why do you worship something that cannot speak?
As can be seen from the content and meaning of this story, the goal of the prophet Abraham was not to break idols and offend the pagan beliefs of his time, but his goal was to call people to monotheism, but he fails and takes a step, that will cause idolaters to abandon idolatry and accept monotheism. The prophet Abraham did not want to be mentioned as a hero - "the destroyer of idols." His purpose was to give lesson and break idols because of him, to illustrate the reasoning and logic of his monotheistic faith with a concrete example.
Scholars know that the story of Abraham's "destruction of the idol" cannot be made into an offensive approach to non-monotheistic religions and beliefs. But, as it became popular later, historical development took a direction that abused various religious verses and narratives by political currents in order to maintain their dominance and authority, justify war and militarism and satisfy their power-hungry goals.
With the growth of religious extremism, it is not surprising that abuses and misunderstandings of religious-historical verses and narratives are growing. The Taliban, as an extremist group, is perhaps the most obvious example of a bunch of ignorant and superficial people who seek power from the abuse and misinterpretation of religious-historical verses and narratives!
Of course, the history of the abuse and misinterpretation of religio-historical verses and narratives is a long and complicated story, with many books written about it, and one long and detailed discussion is needed in this area. Undoubtedly, the Taliban in many cases refer to religious traditions in what is seen as a conflict of this group with culture and historical and ancient monuments.
The history of the Taliban's dislike of music is similar to the history of the group's dislike of sculptures and visual artifacts. While there are no clear religious regulations on the prohibition and opposition of music to religion and religious teachings, but the Taliban, due to their primitive and superficial understanding of religion, are hostile to this important aspect of human culture and art and consider its representatives worthy of punishment.
Similarly, the Taliban and similar superficial and religious extremist groups are hostile to poetry, literature and even "history" as a real, objective and documented text, consider them irreligious and even misleading.
It is no coincidence that in the entire Islamic world, especially in the vast majority of Muslim societies dominated by religious political groups, culture, art, literature and even philosophy and the humanities are either not developed at all or develop very slowly.
However, as already mentioned, the Taliban are not like any system of religious government in the region and the world in their struggle against manifestations of human culture and civilization, but have their own strict method that surprised everyone.
The Taliban, for example, have a negative and hostile attitude towards the media as a cultural institution, and television in particular is considered Enemy No. 1 in the minds of this hostile group. This is not in line with the behavior of other countries in the region where quasi-Taliban regimes operate.
During their first rule (1996-2001), the Taliban stopped broadcasting Afghanistan's only state television channel and did not allow it to operate until the end of their rule. During the second term of the Taliban regime, which began nine months ago, although the media were not closed, they were subjected to a policy of repression and censorship in such a way that they were either the silent mouthpiece of the Taliban or closed their doors.
Widespread restrictions on women's education and employment are also rooted in the Taliban's anti-cultural mentality. The large presence of women in society and their participation in the labor market and in education is seen by the Taliban as a sign of urban and secular culture that must be prevented. The Taliban surprised even their outside patrons when they announced that girls over sixth grade could not go to school. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Pakistan protested the Taliban's policies, calling their move contrary to religious teachings.
As already mentioned, since the Taliban is one of the least educated, superficial and at the same time the most violent and extremist Islamist groups, it is natural that culture, art, literature and philosophy experience their worst days, and cultural and artistic figures live in full poverty and disrespect!
For example, although the Taliban, in demonstrating their anti-cultural behavior towards visual antiquities, claim to follow the politico-religious tradition of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, they also have a very superficial and limited understanding of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi. It is in this same angle of Sultan Mahmud's multi-dimensional character that he is known as the "destroyer of idols".
It is true that the aggressive destructive approach of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni cannot safely pass under the blade of a fair criticism of human history, but at the same time, Sultan Mahmud is mentioned as a person with a strong inclination towards poetry and literature and even to mysticism and Sufism as other manifestations of culture. During his reign, Persian poetry and literature developed significantly and many poets and artists were able to create valuable works in the fields of poetry, literature and culture as a result of his support. The Taliban do not seem to be aware of this side of Sultan Mahmud's personality, because this group is pathologically intransigent towards poetry, literature and Sufism and completely rejects the cultural effect.
Ethnic factor:
Part of the reason for the Taliban's fight against culture is rooted in the very structure of the ethno-tribal thinking of the Taliban. The overwhelming majority of the Taliban are ethnic Pashtuns, and their behavior, beliefs and ideas about political, social and cultural life are a reflection of the Pashtun ethno-tribal culture.
The Pashtuns have retained their tribal structure for a variety of reasons. The tribal structure is a pre-modern structure in which the context of cultural growth is very slow. Of course, some of the Pashtuns who have urbanized or moved abroad are culturally advanced, but in the organizational structure of the Taliban, highly cultured Pashtuns are generally absent or have a small and ineffective presence that cannot play a decisive role in the behavior of the Taliban. Moreover, the Taliban have always been present and developed in those Pashtun social contexts that are considered closed contexts due to being from the circumference and remoteness from the urban environment.
The majority of the population of Afghanistan lives in rural areas, and it can be said that urbanization in this country has not grown much. Due to the weakness and inefficiency of the state institution, the surrounding and rural environment is poorly developed culturally and socially, and underdevelopment, as an important feature of the inhabitants of the surroundings, in the southern and southeastern regions, considered mainly Pashtuns, is of particular importance.
In other words, Pashtun rural areas are more culturally backward than non-Pashtun rural areas. It follows from this that in this case not only the circumference factor acts as a geographical factor, but also the ethno-tribal factor.
As already noted, the Pashtun tribes retained many primitive and pre-modern cultural manifestations. Fossilized customs and traditions as well as pre-modern patterns of behavior abound in their behavior and beliefs. Women have few social and individual rights, and the dominant culture is a patriarchal culture. Compared to other ethnic groups, the Pashtuns are more committed to collective social values, and their individuality and individual independence have not yet taken root. Administrative and legal structures have not been created among the Pashtun communities, and the tribal khan acts as a judge and law enforcer. The excessive cost of marriage, large families, and women under family oppression are other socio-cultural manifestations in Pashtun societies. Those who grow up in the context of such a society and culture are naturally repressed by the civilized urban culture.
Since the majority of representatives of the top and middle leadership, and even ordinary Taliban, are Pashtuns by ethnic origin and geographical distribution, it is clear that they are carriers of serious cultural backwardness and are incompatible with developed cultural manifestations.
Of course, the problem with groups like the Taliban is that they express their intransigence with any incomprehensible and indigestible phenomenon in the context of hostility and opposition. That is, everything that is contrary to their beliefs and mind must be removed and destroyed, and must be removed in a violent and cruel way. Extremism, in fact, takes on its meaning in this context, otherwise there are cultural, political and social differences and incompatibilities in all societies, but the ruling groups do not try to eliminate physically and forcibly unpleasant cultural, political and social elements.
In line with the Taliban's fight against "unpleasant" cultural manifestations, Persian language and culture ranks first as the nationwide, vernacular and common language and cultures of Afghanistan. Most cities in Afghanistan have a Persian cultural and linguistic identity. In the large cities of Afghanistan, all residents speak Persian, and the names of private and public places are written in it.
Of course, the Taliban's struggle with manifestations of Persian culture and language, in addition to the dual incompatibility of "tradition and modernity", is also rooted in a somewhat codified nationalist-Pashtun agenda. This does not mean that the Taliban as extremists and the Pashtuns around them are incompatible with the non-Pashtuns and urban Pashtuns who have taken on the color of the Persian cultural and linguistic identity due to the cultural incompatibility of the city and its circumference. In addition, as already noted, over the past century, a nationalist-Pashtun program has been launched in Afghanistan, to which the Pashtun ethnic elites are committed.
The Pashtun nationalist elite will implement the program if they are in power, and if it is not in power, then the Pashtun rulers will be advised and recommended to implement the ethnic program, which is the Pashtunization of all of Afghanistan. This program is carried out with such zeal that the Pashtun rulers made the support of the Pashtuns dependent on its fearless execution. In other words, in the eyes of the Pashtuns and elite ethnic Pashtun elements, only those Pashtun rulers deserve to rule and have the right to count on the support of Pashtuns who seriously, decisively and honestly carry out the program of Pashtunization in Afghanistan.
The plan for the Pashtunization of Afghanistan, which was mentioned in more detail in the first part of this series of articles *, in fact, if it defines an implacable enemy, then only Persian culture and language. For Afghanistan to acquire a Pashtun cultural identity, the Persian identity and language must be destroyed. The Pashtun ethnic elements implemented the program, with all its negative consequences, known as the "causal basis" of many years of wars in the country. To the extent that the Pashtun ethnic elites even justified supporting the Taliban as a terrorist group in order to achieve the above plan.
Given that the historical-cultural identity of Afghanistan is full of Persian cultural-linguistic symbols and foundations, this identity and this history are naturally exposed to the elimination programs of ethnic and extremist groups such as the Taliban. Of course, as already mentioned, the Taliban also use religion as a means to justify the cultural and historical identity of Afghanistan, arguing that such and such a cultural product and identity is not derived from Islam and is not considered by this Islamic group.
One of such cultural symbols is the celebration of Nowruz as a historical and ancient tradition, against which the Taliban and their like-minded mullahs conduct extensive propaganda, calling it a manifestation of the culture of pre-Islamic ignorance. Meanwhile, many other Islamic countries in the area of Persian civilization are celebrating Novruz with glory.
The naming of Persian as Dari and the persistent Pashtun accent are also rooted in this anti-Persian trend. According to them, they first divide the Persian language into two parts, Persian and Dari, and then, naming the Persian language in Afghanistan Dari, separate it from the main Persian corpus spoken in Iran, Tajikistan and other countries of the region.
Of course, there are cultural Pashtuns who are included in the plan to eliminate and suppress the Taliban. As already mentioned, the Taliban have both religious and ethnic reasons for their anti-culturalism, which expands the group's anti-cultural and anti-civilization background to include all people and cultural elements.
Where anti-cultural religious motives predominate, Pashtun cultural elements will also be threatened, and non-Pashtun cultural elements are threatened by both religious and tribal motives.
In other words, the Taliban pose a twofold threat to non-Pashtun cultural elements. But some elements of Pashtun culture are also at risk. With the exception of those Pashtunists who, on the basis of their fascist-Pashtun affiliation, established relations with the Taliban and built themselves a protective shield of ethnic camaraderie and consensus.
In any case, the anti-cultural program of the Taliban and enmity with cultural manifestations, any other motives and reasons, except for the above reasons, cover the majority of Afghan cultural figures and all Afghan cultural figures are enemies of the Taliban and the Taliban transforms into an enemy all representatives of the culture of this country.
At the same time, the Afghan intelligentsia, culture lovers and even those who want to keep the land called Afghanistan as a whole and unified country have no choice but to fight the Taliban. The Taliban do not tolerate cultural and artistic figures, and under the rule of this group, the country's cultural situation has become the most disastrous. The Taliban, because of their superficial perception and extremist methods, seeks to destroy the country's cultural heritage. Since the group continues to rule and the cultural identity of many of Afghanistan's ethnic groups is under serious threat, this threat may go forward until the country is divided into several parts according to cultural and linguistic identity. However, cultural motives for fighting the Taliban are no less important than ethnic and political motives.
The continued rule of the Taliban is halting the cultural growth of Afghanistan. Stopping the cultural growth of a multicultural society really means breaking national ties and introducing the disciplines needed for a primitive society to become a nation and a civilized one.
In the next section, we will look at the religious motives and reasons for the war with the Taliban.
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REMARKS:
*On March 8-9, 2001, the Taliban destroyed Shahmama and Salsal, two large Buddhist monuments, one of the most valuable relics of Afghanistan, using explosives and rockets.
* Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, one of the famous sultans, the founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty (361-421 AH), is known as the "destroyer of idols". It is said that when he conquered India, he ordered the destruction of a large statue called Sumanat. Although he was asked to refrain from destroying the statue in exchange for a large amount of gold, Sultan Mahmud said that he did not want to be called a "seller of idols" and eventually set Sumanat's statue on fire.
* This topic was discussed in more detail in the first part of the series of articles “Analysis of the motives and socio-ethnic reasons for the fight against the Taliban” and published on the Sangar website.
