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Taliban return to power, women's freedom lost
The Taliban victory has awakened jihadist cells that were sleeping in Indonesia, such as the JI network, the JAD network and other IS sympathizers.
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Taliban fighters sit on a vehicle in Jalalabad province , Afghanistan, on Aug. 15. (AFP/AFP)
T
he Taliban are the largest extremist group born after the Soviet-Afghan war of 1979 to 1989. The Taliban militia was part of the larger Mujahideen organization that fought against the Soviet army. After the Soviets left Afghanistan, the militias belonging to the Mujahideen split and a civil war ensued, but recently the influence of the Taliban has expanded.
In 1994, the Taliban took control of large parts of Afghanistan after uniting many factions of the former Mujahideen organization. The membership of the Mujahideen itself comes from extremist groups from various parts of the Islamic world, many of whom are not Afghans.
In accordance with the origin of the name Taliban, meaning students, the Taliban are comprised of students who were armed in Mujahideen organizations. They are led by Sheikh Mulla Umar, an influential cleric in Kandahar during the early days of Taliban rule in Afghanistan from 1994 to 2001.
As an organization, the Taliban cannot be seen as representing any one side of the Afghan nationality or the Pushtun ethnicity itself. The group exists as part of a network of terror organizations in the Arab region, South Asia, Southeast Asia, North Africa and others, such as the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwanul Muslimin) in Egypt, al- Qaeda, the Islamic State, Hamas, Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), Jamaah Ansharu Daulah (JAD) and Boko Haram. This is because the Taliban grew up with a spirit of Islamism that transcended geographical and national boundaries.
They are no longer limited by the boundaries of different schools of jurisprudence, because they have pulled them into the ideological realm. So at first glance, it seems that they don't care anymore if their members are followers of Shafiiyah or Hanafi, as long as they contribute to funding, train jihadists, provide intelligence networks and other services.
As soon as the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan, there was a very clear euphoria from intolerant people in various countries, including Egypt, Iraq and countries in North Africa, West Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
After their first press conference to mark their victory in Kabul last week, the Taliban promised to give freedom to women. However, it must be remembered that the freedom in question is based on the Taliban's own concept, namely "according to the framework of Islamic Sharia". They will not change what they believe in, namely their version of the Sharia, which is rigid, discriminatory and anti-women. It treats women as second-level creatures, after men.
