M M Khajooria
Crown and the church have always complimented each other. Theocracies have been the most oppressive forms of governance. The exploitation of the masses and the atrocities perpetrated on the working classes had the sanction of the Church. The courtier of God on earth peddled thieir exploitation and suffering as ‘their destiny and the will of the God’. This cruel, irrational and palpably unjust formulation provoked Karl Marx to declare ‘Religion as opium of the masses’. This declaration became basis of communist creed. Communism became synonymous with atheism. Religion became taboo for billions of practicing communists spread all over the world.
Savio Rodrigues, author at Sunday Times Live and Consultant of large number of Business Houses across the globe re-interpreted the connection between Religion and Politics in context of Talibanised Afghanistan, which also happens to be the largest producer and exporter of narcotics. According to him the masses on high (of opium) turn into asses. The behaviour of Afghan Taliban in the past and now in the present, after US and NATO troops abandoned Afghanistan and its hapless people in a shameless desperate hurry is ‘according to Savio Redrigues a reflection of the asses on display for a global audience.’
Taliban have by now gained control of most of Afghanistan including key districts and border posts with Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The nightmare has commenced for the men and more importantly for the women and girls of the unfortunate country. Taliban co-founder and deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar recently told certain sections of global media that Taliban believed in peace. He further asserted that the Taliban believed that the genuine Islamic system is the best means for the solution of all issues in Afghanistan. Baradar also assured that the rights of all Afghans including women will be accommodated in that system according to ‘glorious religion of Islam’ and Afghan traditions. This is yet another fraud being played on the word community especially on demoralised retreating US and NATO forces. Who will define the meaning of ‘the genuine Islamic system’? Please tell us The Taliban or the ISIS? Who does not know that Talibanism was just another garb of Islamic radicalization and extremism. The intent was no different from ISIS whose atrocities in Afghanistan and ISIS controlled territory were still fresh in the minds of men and women all over the world. The underlining principle of the Taliban was a radical and extremist form of governance and people control. They believed that it was more rewarding to rule with fear than with hope. More than the men, women will witness and suffer the return of the dark days in Afghanistan under the Taliban. The Taliban forced women to cover themselves from head to toe, banned them from working outside the home, severely limited girls’ education, and required women to be accompanied by a male relative when they left their homes With the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan , girls and women can forget about their dreams of an education. Educating a woman is considered to be ‘Haram’. Education is only allowed up to the fourth grade for a girl child in Afghanistan under the Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, public executions, conservative traditional dress codes, and restrictions on the personal liberties of women were commonplace during the Taliban rule. The concept of human rights for women’s rights was alien to the Taliban then and even now I am afraid it will continue to be alien. The Taliban recently distributed leaflets in Afghan cities and other habitations, ordering locals to follow strict rules that were similar to those they imposed on Afghans when they last governed the country. To the people of Afghanistan especially girls and women it was a cruel twist of fate and faith when life was slowly returning to some normalcy, the Taliban return to bring its oppression under its interpretation of Islam. The section of women In Kashmir bitten by the extremist bug whose largest number ironically came from the educated and teaching communities (college teachers/ Principals and students) who admire Taliban and the ISIS, were for a huge shock. They apparently ignore the pain, suffering and indignity that women and girls suffer in Talibanised Afghanistan. They don’t seem to have the faintest idea of what they were in for. It is public knowledge that life for women under Taliban and ISIS is hell. Yes hell and living in heaven do not yearn for hell. The women admirers of Taliban in Kashmir better watch out?