Humanitarian crisis

A full-blown humanitarian crisis is looming in Afghanistan, with the Taliban forces taking over a conflict-battered country. While Kabul, the last city standing, also lamely fell into their hands on Sunday, the transition of power, though swift and bloodless, has given way to turbulent times. Chaos — stemming from the fear of an oppressive regime wielding the knife — is reigning; it has led to a mad clamour for escape and evacuation; the majority, who don’t have this option, are confining themselves to their homes, specially women who are even scared to go to work or school/college. Thousands of worried citizens and members of the diplomatic and international community have been flying out; the video of a scramble for a seat in a plane at the Kabul airport on Monday as scores of men fought to board it that went viral amid reports of five dead at the airport exemplifies the catastrophic situation; even Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has fled the country in secrecy.

Ghani’s escapade may shield him from meeting the horrible fate that former President Najibullah was dealt with by the Taliban after they seized power in 1996 — he was hunted out of the UN compound where he was seeking shelter and brutally assassinated by the Taliban. But it is the common folks, specially women, left behind who face a setback as the new rulers are known for their patriarchal and harsh interpretation of the Islamic law. The women’s hard-won rights gained over the past two decades regarding gender equality, education and right to work as also the significant Elimination of Violence Against Women Law, 2009, are again in peril.

Though the Taliban have claimed that women’s rights and freedoms would be respected, going by the poor condition of the girls in the hitherto Taliban-controlled areas, the huge strides made by them with regard to education and participation in public and political life are endangered. The situation calls for an urgent intervention of the international forces to protect the rights of the citizens and prevent the country from regressing into the pre-2001 times. Global efforts for restoring peace must be made.