Anyone who thinks that the Taliban is against drug cultivation and trafficking is either not human or not of this world.
Author: Mohammad Qadeer Mesbah, Regional and Afghanistan expert, especially for Sangar
It seems that the scope of this discussion requires a historical perspective on drug cultivation in the territory called Afghanistan.
The first discussion about the cultivation of narcotic substances is closely related to the understanding of the country's buffer zone and is one of the long and historical discussions that emphasize its connection, peculiarity, and importance with the name of this territory.
Historically, in our understanding, the Indian Peninsula, which until now was considered one of the united satellites of Great Britain, and the East India Company tried to stabilize the colonial economic position of the British king, exported the natural and mineral resources of India to colonial Europe and sold finished products at a high price in the booming Indian market.
Afghanistan was one of the few economic, political, and security zones of importance between British India and Tsarist Russia. Sometimes it was like descending for one and ascending for another. This situation changed from time to time in favor of one and to the detriment of the other. In times of fatigue and exhaustion of the fighting forces on both sides of Afghanistan in different historical periods, their proxy presence filled the void.
Afghanistan was responsible for supplying much of the drugs to British troops that they launched from the Indian front in a war against China called the Opium War. In those days, Helmand and Nuristan became the center of opium cultivation and East India Company operations. After the infamous Durand Treaty, when the eastern borders of Afghanistan were determined, production was placed under the control of British troops for at least a hundred years. Imports and exports of raw materials and luxury items were carried out in exchange for a small tribute, the bulk of which was the best opium in Afghanistan under British control.
Let's not go too far. The fatwas issued by scholars of the Islamic world on the permission of Sharia cultivation of narcotic drugs are clear evidence of the success of equating the war of wine and opium with the traditional Sharia cultivation of narcotic drugs. On the other hand, we have witnessed lengthy and non-standard discussions of articles of the Constitution of Afghanistan 1382 (2003) in the Loya Jirga of the Constitution regarding the use of opium, which was one of the most controversial debates after the language and the national anthem.
In any case, we will not leave the main topic. Afghanistan has permission to sell and export 4-5 metric tons of narcotic drugs from the Global Narcotics Control Board (INSB), and the royal governments and the Dawood Khan Republic have used it. But the fact that the political systems of Afghanistan have been in crisis for over 45 years and have not been able to manage internal crises due to any factors, or have lost the ability to cope under the shadow of international pressure and mafia groups, is another matter.
I have worked and researched for many years on the issue of cultivation, processing, smuggling, and consumption of drugs in different cities and do not consider this phenomenon outside the program of the political history of Afghanistan. In my opinion, wars, and crises are under the shadow of fatwas of extremist groups within the Taliban. Poppy cultivation and its role in the development of the economy are considered halal by them because the Taliban forces and criminal and terrorist groups are financed and equipped with this money. The facts are clear: the Taliban freed the most notorious drug dealer, Haji Bashir, from prison and gave him a great welcome. The leader of this group, named Mullah Akhtar Mansour, was accused of drug trafficking. He was identified as one of the top drug lords before he was killed.
And these days, one of the big and notable allegations against the Taliban is that they fuel the economy through the sale of drugs. The drug markets in Helmand, Kandahar, and Uruzgan are still flourishing. Poppy cultivation in the north and south, west and east of Afghanistan remains attractive, and the drug markets in Kabul, Herat, and Mazar-i-Sharif continue to pour consumer profits into the pockets of Taliban commanders.
If we consider these items as a source of providing a profitable life in the shadow of the Taliban emirate in Afghanistan of mafia, extremism, terrorism, and drug trafficking, then we will have doubts about the fight against the cultivation of drugs by this group and we consider it impossible to resist this phenomenon.
