The Taliban do not have the authority to close schools, even if their emirate is recognized by all countries of the world. They do not have the authority to deprive the people of other political and civil rights, even if this is stated in hundreds of decrees of Mullah Omar and thousands of madrasah documents.
Author: Yunus Nigah, analyst
The issue of official recognition of the Taliban emirate is like a tightrope that fell into the field of Afghan politics after the signing of the Doha Agreement in February 2020, and the Taliban was recognized as one of the parties to this tug-of-war.
The US started the game with the misleading phrase “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which is not recognized by the United States as a state”, and wrote in its agreement with the Taliban that the “Islamic Emirate”, which “we do not recognize”, will not allow anyone to use Afghanistan against interests of the United States.
At that time, the Taliban did not completely control any province of the country. In this agreement, the security of the world, the region, and the people of Afghanistan was not mentioned, but the "Emirate", which even the leaders of the Taliban did not believe until then, will have the authority to issue residence permits and asylum, they were asked not to allow militants who go to Afghanistan, pose a threat to the United States and its allies.
Placing the Taliban in a place where they claim legitimacy and become one of the sides of this tightrope of diplomacy and politics was the first step in recognizing the "Emirate" by the US and its allies. However, due to the backwardness and inability of the Taliban to form a government consistent with the minimum standards of world diplomacy, the Taliban were unable to take advantage of this opportunity, and the official recognition of their emirate remained incomplete.
Both sides of the official recognition game have become more active these days. The Taliban, as a spoiled group that received the control of the country as a gift and has the guarantees of a superpower, does not pay attention to popular protests, UN recommendations, warnings from regional powers, and even dollar rewards from the superpower that gave this emirate, on the contrary, turned away from the world and is engaged in the creation of a whip, religious schools, fundamentalist restrictions and coercion in the daily life of the people of Afghanistan.
Whenever the question of official recognition comes up, the Taliban take a few steps back and increase pressure on the people they have taken hostage. Recently, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said after a meeting in Oslo that it does not recognize the Taliban because this group has not fulfilled its obligations. Similar messages are heard from the United Nations and the countries of the region. In response to these “pressures,” the Taliban have banned women from parks and public baths and are planning to completely close schools and universities for girls.
The Taliban are wary of dealing with foreigners and are trying to present themselves as a group that will not harm anyone but the people of Afghanistan. They have learned this lesson from the first round of their Emirate not to touch foreign powers that be by the tail, but in relation to the internal affairs and destinies of the inhabitants of Afghanistan, they do not consider themselves bound by any obligations, except for the orders of Mullah Haybatullah and the selfish interests of layers of Pakistani and Afghan madrasas.
Norway's foreign minister said the Taliban have not formed an inclusive government and do not respect human rights. Russia's special envoy for Afghanistan also said at a recent meeting of the Moscow format that they did not invite a Taliban representative because the "interim government of Afghanistan" did not fulfill its obligations.
Where and in what document did the Taliban leadership commit to respecting human rights and establishing a comprehensive government? At the Taliban Mawlawies Jirga in Kabul and many times since, the group has loudly stated that they do not believe in human rights, political participation, and democracy and will not give up building an emirate based on sharia/amirulmuminin orders. The only official commitment the Taliban have made to the world, and indeed to the United States, is the two-page Doha Agreement, which makes no mention of freedom, human rights, women's rights, minority rights, democracy, elections, and the formation of an inclusive government. The Taliban's sole obligation is to avoid posing a threat to the US and its allies.
Some Afghan politicians are looking at the third part of this agreement, which refers to intra-Afghan negotiations to form a new Islamic government. The fact is that the Doha Agreement and the commitments of the Taliban are not suitable platforms for discussing the rights of the Afghan people. If the international community sincerely supports the fundamental rights of the Afghan people, it should be guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the wishes of the Afghan people as a standard. The right to life, the right to education, the right to work, and civil liberties cannot be taken away under any pretext, and the agreement of a foreign government with an authoritarian and fundamentalist group such as the Taliban cannot be the criterion for determining people's rights.
Non-Taliban politicians, women, and men who consider education, work, and freedom their inalienable rights, should continue to litigate and pursue internationally, but not make the formation of a government that guarantees the basic rights of the people dependent on foreign support and desire.
The Taliban do not have the authority to close schools, even if their emirate is recognized by all countries of the world. They do not have the authority to deprive the people of other political and civil rights, even if this is stated in hundreds of decrees of Mullah Omar and thousands of madrasah documents.
