Talibanization

 Taliban is a Pashto word that means a group of students. while this term is normally referred to different groups of Muslim religious fighters. Whereas, the process involved in the formation of such groups is called Talibanization. The origin of these groups dates back to the soviet-afghan war. The Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 by the troops from the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union intervened in support of the Afghan communist government with its conflict with anti-communist Muslims. However, the real reason for the Soviet invasion was to gain geopolitical dominance in the cold war. The cold war is considered to be fought from 1947 to 1991 till the dissolution of the Soviet Union, between the Soviet Union and the United States. The term cold war was used because this war didn’t include any direct fight between them, rather they supported major regional conflicts. A thread of these conflicts was the soviet invasion of Afghanistan to which the United States retaliated by formatting and aiding Muslim mujahidin groups and establish Taliban regimes. The Afghan war lasted 14 years from 1978 to 1992 while fleeing from devastating conditions of the war about 2.8 million Afghans sought asylum in Pakistan While 1.5 fled to Iran. These waging wars didn’t only destruct Afghanistan but also led to the formation of different Taliban regimes which were later left rampant, the mistake which the United States and Pakistan realized many years later. Pakistan who once supported these regimes along with the US now faces its worst adversities after Afghanistan.

The tribal areas of Pakistan such as FATA and neighboring undeveloped areas of Pakistan which formed borders with Afghanistan were the haven for the Talibanization. These areas didn’t have a definite form of government, lacked government institutes and educational facilities were limited to madrasas. Deprived of basic education they lacked in a basic school of thoughts, determining right and wrong and the true essence of Islam. These conditions favored the Taliban regime in embedding their school of thought in locals of these tribal areas. Soon these regimes took over madras and deviated these locals from the true essence of Islam by promoting Jihad against their own fellow Muslims, giving fatwas to promote their ideology, and banning everything they considered against Islamic values. The teachings of Islam were molded to support their naive ideologies and then taught to students in madrasas. Soon these regimes strengthened and developed a sizeable military force. However, Taliban regimes in Pakistan were not solely self-established but had considerable support from Afghani Taliban regimes and funded by India. The motive of the Afghani Taliban after the soviet-afghan war can be termed as a deviation from their purpose and greed for power but latter regimes who are supported by adversaries of Pakistan have more dreadful motives such as propaganda against Islam, destabilizing Pakistan, and propagating the image of Pakistan as a terrorist-supporting country.

World opinion largely disapproved of Taliban social policies in Afghanistan. However, the threats imposed by these Taliban regimes to the rest of the world were not completely intercepted until the 9/11 incident. This incident has turmoil effect on the whole world, while deeply affecting the Islamic world by devaluing Islamic image all over the world. The then leader of al-Qaida Usama Bin Laden was accused of different terrorist attacks against American interests. The Taliban’s refusal to extradite bin Laden to the United States following the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and on the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, prompted a military confrontation with the United States and allied powers. The US started military operations in Afghanistan against Taliban regimes, considering their terrorist activities and threat posed to world peace. However, the terrorist activities didn’t remain constrained in Afghanistan but posed a greater danger to Pakistan. General Pervaiz Musharraf then president of Pakistan realized the nature of the threat imposed by these terrorist regimes to the public and launched military missions in FATA and adjacent areas to relinquish terrorist hold in these areas. These missions were effective in eliminating almost all Taliban regimes, restoring peace in most of the areas. However, Pakistan had to pay an unprecedented price for this peace, costing thousands of lives, economical losses, and most sadly it has cost Pakistan a tremendous number of developmental opportunities