Taliban finally emerges as Afghanistan’s official voice despite closing the door on women

With the Taliban ruling Afghanistan for three years, the political winds for the group started to shift in the international arena. In the span of just a few months, dozens of countries have welcomed Taliban diplomats. Some even have sent high-ranking officials to Kabul to build diplomatic ties and secure trade with the country which has been marred by the conflict.

Things started to change for the group positively as there has been talk of removing the group from the international terrorist lists. While the diplomatic activities reflected a shift in the global perspective of the Taliban, one concern remains pivotal. That is the deplorable conditions of women in the country and the lack of their presence during international conversations about their rights.

In June this year, the Afghan group attended a rare United Nations-led conference of global envoys to Afghanistan. That was the first such meeting between the Taliban and other international actors held in Doha. While the gathering actively spoke about women’s rights in Afghanistan, not a single woman was allowed to attend the meeting.

It was not like Afghanistan didn’t have women to speak on the issue. The country is home to Nobel peace-prize nominated women’s rights activist Mehbouba Seraj along with other brave women. However, the country has barred women from even speaking or singing in public. While the world extends its hands to the Taliban, the women’s questions in the country still remain unanswered.

A look at countries fostering ties with the Taliban

In January, China became the first country to formally welcome a Talibani diplomat and referred to him as Afghanistan’s ambassador. In the month of August, the UAE followed the same suit. In the same month, Uzbekistan sent its prime minister to Kabul. This was the first highest-level foreign visit by the leader in the country since the Taliban took over in 2021.

Many believed that these initiatives were paving the way for the regime to earn international recognition. While all this was happening, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced this spring that the Kremlin was considering removing the Taliban from its list of designated terrorist organizations, which would make it the first country to do so.

In just a few months, Taliban officials have scored victories in the international arena. Last month, the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that about 40 Afghan embassies and consulates now answered to its government. The move indicated that the Taliban has a chance to have a voice in countries where many top Taliban leaders cannot visit because of international travel bans.

But what does this mean for Afghanistan?

One of the major benefits of these initiatives is the fact that the growing diplomatic acceptance has created trade and investment opportunities along with injections of cash that have been badly needed since the US-backed government collapsed.

The country that has been marred by several natural calamities is now focusing on issuing dozens of contracts to tap into the country’s mineral wealth. Not only this, private companies from the region have dozens of contracts to tap into the country’s mineral wealth.

However, the diplomatic conversations have somehow eased the pressure on the regime to roll back restrictions imposed on women in the country. While it can be considered a major win for the Taliban, the lack of talks about women’s rights delivers a major blow to thousands of Afghan women. However, despite these there are some in the country who are optimistic about the opening of international channels, hoping that the women question can be brought to the forefront as well.

The women question

In a thought-provoking interview with Firstpost in August, Afghan women’s rights activist Mehbouba Seraj emphasised the need to open channels of communication. Seraj expressed frustration over how no women from Afghanistan were able to attend the third UN-held talks on Afghanistan which took place in Doha in July this year. The Doha talks were the first time the Taliban took part in the meeting. In the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Taliban also did not recognise the female Afghan athletes.

“That’s so unfortunate because, you know, 20 million people cannot be disregarded as nothing, whether that’s in the sphere of education or in being an athlete or doing some competition with the world and whatever,” Seraj told Firstpost. “If the Taliban, maybe they think that they can stop the women of Afghanistan from breathing the air, you know, I don’t think that will happen. As far as Doha talks are concerned, hopefully, we will find a way of actually sitting down with them and having a talk because otherwise, we don’t have any other choice. I mean, what is the next choice?” Seraj asked.

“The next choice is for all of us to kill each other, that’s the one other choice that we have. Apart from that, we have to really sit down and talk and discuss what’s going on. That’s the only way,” she added.

The Nobel Peace Prize-nominated activist insisted that Afghanistan will “cease to exist” if things go on the same way. “Afghanistan will cease to exist if this thing goes on the same way. We cannot afford that. We have to change the way we are doing the whole discussion and the whole communication and the world has to help us,” she furthered.