January 25, 2022

Taliban in Oslo Talks.

~Preet

After the end of 'the never ending war' of United States Of America against Taliban, which was fought with the intention to prevent this terrorist organisation from taking over the government and capturing the nation again, Taliban has clearly won and has assumed the charges and duties of government. Sadly the USA army withdrew from Afghanistan bowing to the terms of Taliban and leaving the faith of the innocent common people of Afghanistan in the hands of Islamic extremists, who have been charged for severe terrorist attacks and human rights violations, and are constantly advocating against the female educational rights.

When President George W. Bush signed the resolution authorising the use of force against those involved in the attacks of 9/11, in 2001, which was followed by the military operations beginning from 7th of October 2001, and the retreat of Taliban, no one ever thought that this would end with the insurgents taking over and bringing the situations to status quo, disrupting the life of millions of Afghani people.

But it turns out that the unexpected has become true after the USA-Taliban deal of February 2020. Since then the world has seen the worsening situations of Afghanistan and constant claims of the Taliban that it is governing the nation well.

It took another major step in international politics, which seems to be a way to emphasise its power in Afghanistan and show the world that Taliban is back and it decides the policies of Afghanistan.

Since its revival, this is the first time that a delegation of Taliban visited Europe. The Taliban delegation has represented Afghanistan in the Oslo talks that began on 23rd of January 2022. In this, The Afghan Civil Society Members talked about human rights, before meetings with western officials.

This delegation was headed by Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. On the first day of the three day visit, the delegation talked to women activists and journalists.

This discourse was conducted by Norway and the primary focus of the discussion was human rights and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. These talks took place behind closed doors at the Soria Moria Hotel on the outskirts of Oslo.

The humanitarian conditions have deteriorated in Afghanistan since the Taliban came back in power in August 2021 after 20 years of retreat. Their revival lead to a pause on the international aid, since those donating, feared that the resources would not be used for humanitarian causes and would rather be deviated for growth of military power and terrorism. The sufferers of this are millions of innocent Afghans who were already suffering from hunger after severe droughts.

Till now no country has recognised Taliban as a legitimate government, hence to make nations agree on these talks Norway Foreign Minister stated this move will not lead to legitimation or recognition of the Taliban administration and the sole purpose of these talks is to protect the people of Afghanistan from humanitarian crisis. The Foreign Minister of Norway, Miss Anniken Huitfeldt said, "we must talk to the de facto authorities in the country. We cannot allow the political situation to lead to an even worse humanitarian disaster".

The Taliban delegation met representatives of the USA, France, Britain, Germany and European Union on 24th of January and Norwegian officials the next day.

Afghanistan is very much dependent upon international aid for the functioning of its economy since it financed about 80% of it. The unemployment is dangerously increasing and 55% of the population is threatened by hunger. The general population has faced repercussions due to the global distrust in Taliban. This must change. As said by Secretary General of UNO, Antonio Guterres, “It would be a mistake to submit the people of Afghanistan to a collective punishment just because the de facto authorities are not behaving properly”.

There are still many concerns that keep haunting the nations from providing monetary aid to Afghanistan. The major cause of the fear is the ugly administration by Taliban during its first shot at governance during 1996-2001. The other reason is the gender apartheid which has been clearly visible in the practices of Taliban.

It is true that precautions are necessary and given the history of the Taliban, it is hard to put faith in their governance, but it is equally important to protect the interests of millions of Afghans.

Norway had had a good record in mediating over the conflicts, so the world hoped that it would again do the same and find a way out.

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