01-05-2005, 09:54 AM
Genesis of Taliban
For a better understanding of Taliban, it is essential to explain their background, as to who they are, what is their origin and how did they emerge on the political scene of Afghanistan? Taliban simply means those who seek knowledge. In other words, they are students. The current Taliban phenomenon has its roots in the history of Khurasan, which was a province of Caliphate of Baghdad which included the territories of Afghanistan. Taliban had existed as a factor in Afghan history for the past several centuries. Maulleaan-o-Taliban - religious teachers and students - is a common title generally used while addressing this community. They enjoy a very high status in the country. They have often asserted themselves in the past in periods of crisis, invasions and social upheavals. No wonder, they were in the fore front to oppose the Soviets, under the command of their senior teachers. They are a product of the Madrassa system, which is intrinsic to Afghanistanâs ideological orientation, social and educational systems.
The Madrassas were set up in Khurasan after the advent of Islam in the 9th century AD, as religious seminaries and also served as seats of learning, very much on the pattern of modern universities. They produced scholars of great eminence - poets, philosophers, mathematicians, hakeems (physicians) and warriors. Great poets and scholars, such as Roomi, Firdausi, Jami, Ibne Sina, Imam Bukhari, Tirmizi and many others, happened to be the graduates of the Madrassas. Great military leaders such as Shahabuddin Ghauri, Mahmud Ghaznavi, Ahmad Shah Abdali, and also the saints like Ali Hajveri (Data Ganj Bakhsh), Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti and so many others of their like, came from these very institutions.
The Madrassa thus provided a comprehensive blend of religious and worldly education, what could best be described as Daâwah and Jihad --- the call to knowledge and invocation of struggle against injustice and tyranny. Interestingly, many of the Ahadith books of Fiqh, Hanafia-al-Sahih al-Sitta were written in the Madrassas of Khurasan, by the great scholars such as Imam Bukhari, Abu Dawood, Imam Ibn-e-Maja, Imam Muslim and Imam Tirmizi. Not only were the Madrassas the source of learning and scholarly inquiry but also served as military academies without weapons training. They helped internalize among the youth a sense of God-awareness and the ideological imperatives of a believer. No wonder, therefore, Afghanistan remained glued to the Madrassa system as the bastion of Islamic thought and reservoir of ready manpower to launch Jehad, when it became absolutely necessary to fight against forces of evil and injustices within the country or imposed from outside, by the invaders.
In the past Taliban constituted the Jihadis, who came forward to fight under the banner of Mahmud Ghauri, Ghaznavi, Ahmad Shah Abdali and in more recent history, they played a leading part in the Roshani Movement (1525-75), defeating the Safvi Empire under Shah Mahmood (1710-15). It were the same âMullahsâ and the Taliban who led uprising against the British Indian Army incursions into Afghanistan and forced them to retreat. Mullah Shor Bazar earned great fame as the leading Taliban leader against the British and the Afghan King - Amanullah Khan. During the recent struggle against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, it were the Taliban under their senior leaders, who stood resolutely to cause a humiliating defeat on the invaders. Taliban, as part of Jawanan-e-Musliman Movement, remained active during the rule of Sardar Muhammad Dawood.
With the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the Madrassas were uprooted and most of the Mullahs and young students migrated to Pakistan and established themselves in the madrassas in Pakistan. When it was realized that the Soviets could not be dislodged from Afghan, it was decided to establish a chain of madrassas along the Afghan-Pakistan border, âas an ideological barrierâ, with Saudi money and with full support of USA and Pakistan. These madrassas therefore served as nurseries for Jehad. Labelling them product of JUI and ISI etc. is not justified. In fact Maulana Fazalur Rehmanâs JUI never supported Jehad against the Soviets.
Lately, under the Mujahideen leaders in their struggle against the Soviet occupation, Taliban remained committed to their party leaders who in many cases were also their teachers, such as Professors Rabbani, Sayyaf, Mujaddadi, Khalili, Maulvi Khalis and Nabi Muhammadi, Hikmatyar from Kabul University and Masood, from Polytechnic Institute. During the jihad, the Taliban provided the bulk of foot soldiery to the mujahideen organizations but remained loosely tied to their own tribal identities. They followed their party leaders with a sense of purpose. As long as that purpose was served they remained steadfast and loyal to their leadership. However, after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, Taliban went back to their Madrassas to continue their studies. With the return of the refugees, most of the Madrassas inside Afghanistan got revived, while those established inside Pakistan, continued with their academic activities, as before.
After the fall of the Communist regime in Afghanistan in 1992, the Taliban remained silent spectators during the post-jihad period of infighting between the Mujahideen leaders. Southern Afghanistan was the worst affected area where numerous power groups emerged, bringing life to a miserable low level due to gun running, kidnapping for ransom, transit taxes, drug trafficking, immorality and debauchery. Political parties already involved in power struggle added fuel to the situation by aiding their affiliated groups. Seeing the ineffectiveness of the political parties, Taliban emerged and picked up arms to redeem the situation. Rising from Kandahar in August 1994 under Mullah Muhammad Umar, ahead of local Madrassa at Mainwand, with only 45 men, received immense support from the local population and like minded Jehadi Commanders who facilitated their control over the province of Kandahar bv December 1994. gradually the Taliban Movement expanded its hold. Rabbaniâs government at Kabul initially extended help to the Taliban in a bid to defeat Engr. Hakmatyarâs Hizb. Exploiting the element of disunity of the Jehadies, Taliban moved with lightening speed and defeated Hikmatyarâs Hizb, the only party which resisted the Movement at the initial stages. President rebbani however withdraw his support when Taliban asked him to step down.
The kind of response Taliban received during the years 1994-95 from the people of Afghanistan and the lower ranking fighters and commanders of the opposition parties, was phenomenal and was a surprise to Taliban themselves and urged them to move beyond. Their success markedly reflected in the willing acceptance of the opposing forces to surrender to them, along with their arms and ammunition. The only places where they faced resistances were those held by Masood and Dostum. One by one Taliban continued to defeat the opposition and by mid 2001 succeeded in gaining control over most of Afghanistan. One must therefore, understand that the Taliban movement was a reaction from within the corrupted social environment, creating a situation for removed from the goals of Jehad struggle.
Taliban, because of the long disturbed period of struggle against the Soviets, could not receive the desired formal education. Since 1979, they had no peace and no real education. They can thus be addressed as âChildren of Jehadâ. Most of their senior teachers who actively fought against the Soviets subsequently were discarded by the Taliban. Taliban Movement, therefore, can be termed as purely an indigenous force of Afghanistanâs own, which remained united and was able to achieve such sweeping victories in a short period of six years..
After the regime change in Afghanistan, in 2002, the Taliban have melted into the Pakhtun population mainly. Gradually and slowly they are getting organized to challenge the Coalition Forces. They symbolize the spirit of defiance of the Afghans, which no occupation force has ever been able to subdue and suppress. However, what has happened in the past one year, is ominous and is going to change the social and political structure of Afghanistan. Autonomous regions under the respective ethnic warlords have emerged, fattened by massive support by the neighbouring countries and beyond. Supply of weapons, war material and financing through narcotic trade and smuggling, has helped the warlords, entrench themselves, while Hamid Karzaisâ government hardly maintains control beyond the outer perimeter of Kabul.
The Afghan Pakhtun belt, gradually is merging into the Pakistani Pakhtun belt as one region of conflict and serves as the main support base for the remnants of Taliban. Afghan Pakhtuns at present do not have a common leader, but a leader is likely to emerge as the struggle intensifies. Pakhtuns constitute the majority in Afghanistan and therefore must get their due share accordingly for any peaceful political settlement in the future.
Taliban, therefore are by no means an implanted entity, nor one can claim the responsibility of its creation. It has played its traditional role in a period of despair and chaos that prevailed in Afghanistan. It fortifies the ideological base of the Afghans as well as their national ethos flowing from the Madrassas spread all over the country.
Designing any political arrangement by excluding Taliban who mainly represent Pakhtun population, would indeed be a futile effort. If peace is the noble objective to attain, it can only be through determining the ethnic demographic composition of Afghanistan through a census conducted under the supervision of nonpartisan international agency. Only a judicious share of the Pakhtuns can bring real peace and also have a salutary effect on the entire region. It will also be in consonance with the supreme values of democracy, that the majorityâs will is respected, and is not hijacked by the minorities who only serve vested interests of foreign groups.
Franklin Roosevelt rightly counseled âMore than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all warâ. We must pause to think why Taliban acted the way they did.
HEART BEATS ( try try again )
For a better understanding of Taliban, it is essential to explain their background, as to who they are, what is their origin and how did they emerge on the political scene of Afghanistan? Taliban simply means those who seek knowledge. In other words, they are students. The current Taliban phenomenon has its roots in the history of Khurasan, which was a province of Caliphate of Baghdad which included the territories of Afghanistan. Taliban had existed as a factor in Afghan history for the past several centuries. Maulleaan-o-Taliban - religious teachers and students - is a common title generally used while addressing this community. They enjoy a very high status in the country. They have often asserted themselves in the past in periods of crisis, invasions and social upheavals. No wonder, they were in the fore front to oppose the Soviets, under the command of their senior teachers. They are a product of the Madrassa system, which is intrinsic to Afghanistanâs ideological orientation, social and educational systems.
The Madrassas were set up in Khurasan after the advent of Islam in the 9th century AD, as religious seminaries and also served as seats of learning, very much on the pattern of modern universities. They produced scholars of great eminence - poets, philosophers, mathematicians, hakeems (physicians) and warriors. Great poets and scholars, such as Roomi, Firdausi, Jami, Ibne Sina, Imam Bukhari, Tirmizi and many others, happened to be the graduates of the Madrassas. Great military leaders such as Shahabuddin Ghauri, Mahmud Ghaznavi, Ahmad Shah Abdali, and also the saints like Ali Hajveri (Data Ganj Bakhsh), Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti and so many others of their like, came from these very institutions.
The Madrassa thus provided a comprehensive blend of religious and worldly education, what could best be described as Daâwah and Jihad --- the call to knowledge and invocation of struggle against injustice and tyranny. Interestingly, many of the Ahadith books of Fiqh, Hanafia-al-Sahih al-Sitta were written in the Madrassas of Khurasan, by the great scholars such as Imam Bukhari, Abu Dawood, Imam Ibn-e-Maja, Imam Muslim and Imam Tirmizi. Not only were the Madrassas the source of learning and scholarly inquiry but also served as military academies without weapons training. They helped internalize among the youth a sense of God-awareness and the ideological imperatives of a believer. No wonder, therefore, Afghanistan remained glued to the Madrassa system as the bastion of Islamic thought and reservoir of ready manpower to launch Jehad, when it became absolutely necessary to fight against forces of evil and injustices within the country or imposed from outside, by the invaders.
In the past Taliban constituted the Jihadis, who came forward to fight under the banner of Mahmud Ghauri, Ghaznavi, Ahmad Shah Abdali and in more recent history, they played a leading part in the Roshani Movement (1525-75), defeating the Safvi Empire under Shah Mahmood (1710-15). It were the same âMullahsâ and the Taliban who led uprising against the British Indian Army incursions into Afghanistan and forced them to retreat. Mullah Shor Bazar earned great fame as the leading Taliban leader against the British and the Afghan King - Amanullah Khan. During the recent struggle against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, it were the Taliban under their senior leaders, who stood resolutely to cause a humiliating defeat on the invaders. Taliban, as part of Jawanan-e-Musliman Movement, remained active during the rule of Sardar Muhammad Dawood.
With the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the Madrassas were uprooted and most of the Mullahs and young students migrated to Pakistan and established themselves in the madrassas in Pakistan. When it was realized that the Soviets could not be dislodged from Afghan, it was decided to establish a chain of madrassas along the Afghan-Pakistan border, âas an ideological barrierâ, with Saudi money and with full support of USA and Pakistan. These madrassas therefore served as nurseries for Jehad. Labelling them product of JUI and ISI etc. is not justified. In fact Maulana Fazalur Rehmanâs JUI never supported Jehad against the Soviets.
Lately, under the Mujahideen leaders in their struggle against the Soviet occupation, Taliban remained committed to their party leaders who in many cases were also their teachers, such as Professors Rabbani, Sayyaf, Mujaddadi, Khalili, Maulvi Khalis and Nabi Muhammadi, Hikmatyar from Kabul University and Masood, from Polytechnic Institute. During the jihad, the Taliban provided the bulk of foot soldiery to the mujahideen organizations but remained loosely tied to their own tribal identities. They followed their party leaders with a sense of purpose. As long as that purpose was served they remained steadfast and loyal to their leadership. However, after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, Taliban went back to their Madrassas to continue their studies. With the return of the refugees, most of the Madrassas inside Afghanistan got revived, while those established inside Pakistan, continued with their academic activities, as before.
After the fall of the Communist regime in Afghanistan in 1992, the Taliban remained silent spectators during the post-jihad period of infighting between the Mujahideen leaders. Southern Afghanistan was the worst affected area where numerous power groups emerged, bringing life to a miserable low level due to gun running, kidnapping for ransom, transit taxes, drug trafficking, immorality and debauchery. Political parties already involved in power struggle added fuel to the situation by aiding their affiliated groups. Seeing the ineffectiveness of the political parties, Taliban emerged and picked up arms to redeem the situation. Rising from Kandahar in August 1994 under Mullah Muhammad Umar, ahead of local Madrassa at Mainwand, with only 45 men, received immense support from the local population and like minded Jehadi Commanders who facilitated their control over the province of Kandahar bv December 1994. gradually the Taliban Movement expanded its hold. Rabbaniâs government at Kabul initially extended help to the Taliban in a bid to defeat Engr. Hakmatyarâs Hizb. Exploiting the element of disunity of the Jehadies, Taliban moved with lightening speed and defeated Hikmatyarâs Hizb, the only party which resisted the Movement at the initial stages. President rebbani however withdraw his support when Taliban asked him to step down.
The kind of response Taliban received during the years 1994-95 from the people of Afghanistan and the lower ranking fighters and commanders of the opposition parties, was phenomenal and was a surprise to Taliban themselves and urged them to move beyond. Their success markedly reflected in the willing acceptance of the opposing forces to surrender to them, along with their arms and ammunition. The only places where they faced resistances were those held by Masood and Dostum. One by one Taliban continued to defeat the opposition and by mid 2001 succeeded in gaining control over most of Afghanistan. One must therefore, understand that the Taliban movement was a reaction from within the corrupted social environment, creating a situation for removed from the goals of Jehad struggle.
Taliban, because of the long disturbed period of struggle against the Soviets, could not receive the desired formal education. Since 1979, they had no peace and no real education. They can thus be addressed as âChildren of Jehadâ. Most of their senior teachers who actively fought against the Soviets subsequently were discarded by the Taliban. Taliban Movement, therefore, can be termed as purely an indigenous force of Afghanistanâs own, which remained united and was able to achieve such sweeping victories in a short period of six years..
After the regime change in Afghanistan, in 2002, the Taliban have melted into the Pakhtun population mainly. Gradually and slowly they are getting organized to challenge the Coalition Forces. They symbolize the spirit of defiance of the Afghans, which no occupation force has ever been able to subdue and suppress. However, what has happened in the past one year, is ominous and is going to change the social and political structure of Afghanistan. Autonomous regions under the respective ethnic warlords have emerged, fattened by massive support by the neighbouring countries and beyond. Supply of weapons, war material and financing through narcotic trade and smuggling, has helped the warlords, entrench themselves, while Hamid Karzaisâ government hardly maintains control beyond the outer perimeter of Kabul.
The Afghan Pakhtun belt, gradually is merging into the Pakistani Pakhtun belt as one region of conflict and serves as the main support base for the remnants of Taliban. Afghan Pakhtuns at present do not have a common leader, but a leader is likely to emerge as the struggle intensifies. Pakhtuns constitute the majority in Afghanistan and therefore must get their due share accordingly for any peaceful political settlement in the future.
Taliban, therefore are by no means an implanted entity, nor one can claim the responsibility of its creation. It has played its traditional role in a period of despair and chaos that prevailed in Afghanistan. It fortifies the ideological base of the Afghans as well as their national ethos flowing from the Madrassas spread all over the country.
Designing any political arrangement by excluding Taliban who mainly represent Pakhtun population, would indeed be a futile effort. If peace is the noble objective to attain, it can only be through determining the ethnic demographic composition of Afghanistan through a census conducted under the supervision of nonpartisan international agency. Only a judicious share of the Pakhtuns can bring real peace and also have a salutary effect on the entire region. It will also be in consonance with the supreme values of democracy, that the majorityâs will is respected, and is not hijacked by the minorities who only serve vested interests of foreign groups.
Franklin Roosevelt rightly counseled âMore than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all warâ. We must pause to think why Taliban acted the way they did.
HEART BEATS ( try try again )
