What is the Taliban? Check Out the History and Updated Facts for the UPSC Exam

The current news has made all the people stressed. Everyone knows that the Taliban has taken Afghanistan into power. The UPSC candidates must be aware of all the facts and details about the current happening in the world.

The Taliban has created the worst environment for the Afghans. The state of humankind is in trouble. If you want to know more about the history of the Taliban or Afghanistan Taliban issue, you must read this complete article.

Don’t take your eyes off as it will not only increase your knowledge for the exam but the worldwide insecurity. Here is the answer to the question, what is the Taliban? Let’s start.

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What is the Taliban?

The community to be referred to as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, IEA which is creating a troublesome environment for the world right now. It is a Deobandi Islamist movement along with being a military organization in Afghanistan. It is currently waging war which is an insurgency, or jihad within the country.

The people of Afghanistan are leaving the country for the sake of their lives. Even the leader has flown away. Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada has been the Taliban’s leader since 2016. The Taliban was estimated to have 200,000 fighters in 2021.

The History of the Taliban

This group has enforced strict laws in Afghanistan since 1996. The laws have been interpreted according to them in Sharia or Islamic laws.

According to the data, from 1996 to 2021, the Taliban has held power over three-quarters of Afghanistan. The current flood of news from Afghanistan has made the people know what is happening currently but the past information is given in this article especially for the UPSC aspirants.

The Taliban emerged as the most powerful and dominating group in 1994 during the Afghan civil war which has made them recognized internationally. The Taliban has largely consisted of the students, Talib. They come from the Pashtun areas of eastern and southern Afghanistan.

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Facts about Taliban

The Taliban is the Sunni fundamentalist organization. This organization has been involved in Afghan politics. It has created havoc all around in the country as well as the other nations. It is recognized as a military group that is involved in an insurgency.

According to the facts, they had been educated in traditional Islamic schools and fought during the Soviet-Afghan War with the Afghans. They are known for the enforcement of Islamic Sharia Laws in Afghanistan.

The community and their allies put forward their ideologies and do not accept the other policies. They have denied US food and many more offers from other countries.

Facts on Taliban for UPSC

The insurgency is against the currently elected government in Afghanistan. The enforcement of their laws has seen a devastating state of human rights along with the disastrous condition to women.

The leader and founder of this group is Mullah Omar. He took charge of the Islamic laws for several years and died in 2013.

The meaning of Taliban in Pashto is students. These are the Islamic students who want to establish their power in Afghanistan.

The Origin of the Taliban

Do you want to know about the origin of the Taliban and their authoritarian thoughts? Here is the information about the beginning of this group. It started during the Saur Revolution in Afghanistan. It started on 27 April 1978 and it gave birth to the power and authoritarian rule of a communist party.

The party had started to build new laws and regulations for modernization which were not accepted by some people in the country. The development of new laws and policies was harshly denied by the traditional or rural people.

This gave rise to anti-nationalistic thoughts and approaches. The government was also not United as there were people who were opposing things in the party.

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More Information about the Taliban

The government was unable to make the citizens happy and thus USSR intervened in the matter to ask the party about making an alliance for better governance. The Soviet Army was deployed in Kabul on 15th February 1980 due to the initial protocols in December 1979. This is because of the orchestration of a coup.

Taliban’s Beginning

It killed the rule of President Hafizullah Amin. After it, the alliance was established with the Soviets. Babrak Karmal became the President of Afghanistan. Other countries like the USA saw this alley as the Soviet invasion which made them unhappy. This gave rise to a bitter war between the insurgent groups and Soviet troops. The fight was unstoppable. The insurgent groups were called Mujahideen.

Mujahideen took charge of the rural areas while the Soviet group took urban areas under them. The Mujahideen were supported by several countries like the USA, China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. This gave them support by weapons and armor.

The Information About the War

Due to the massive war, the civilians of Afghanistan were affected physically and mentally. They had to leave the country and reach native places like Iran, Pakistan, or India. Many citizens had to lose their families, children, home, and even lives.

The war was stopped after the death of 20 Lakh Afghans, after 9 years. After it, the Mujahideen and the government of Afghanistan fought alone.

The insurgents took control of Kabul in 1992. The deadly war started between the insurgents as they got divided into 4 different groups to get power.

Taliban History for UPSC Notes

To safeguard the country and citizen’s rights, students who were refugees in Pakistan and have learned Islamic laws invaded places in Afghanistan. They were called Islamic fundamentalists. These students were called Taliban.

The community captured Kabul in 1996 and the province of Herat in 1995. They were strong and captured the entire country by 1998. The Mujahideen warlords and favourites fled to the north and started their new trait by joining the Northern alliance. They joined it to defeat the Taliban as the Northern alliance was fighting with the Taliban.

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Afghanistan Taliban Issue

The outbreak of the news has made the people curious to know about the issues between Afghanistan and the Taliban. The chaos at the Kabul airport or the leaders’ escape from the country has made the people search about several things.

The UPSC candidates must precisely know the issues, history, causes, and every relevant topic.

Initially, when the Taliban entered Afghanistan, they were welcomed by the citizens because of the thought that they would bring stability to the nation along with protecting the civil wars that were being started at every moment in the country. The community of Islamists promised the people to safeguard their rights and impose Sharia in the nation along with stabilization of harmony and peace.

Taliban and Afghanistan

The citizens of Afghanistan thought that the Taliban would remove lawlessness from the country. This was because of the stress and tiredness of the people from the bloody civil wars between the Soviets and Mujahideen.

The Taliban was thought of as the saviour of the nation. It started the enforcement of rules and laws in the country. Islamic laws were embedded in the country. It gave a sigh of relief to the children and women. They began to endorse Sharia and an amalgamation of it came with the Pashtun tribal code.

Taliban’s Rules and Regularities

The Islamic rules started to be implemented to all the people which made men grow their beards and women cover their faces with burqas. The regulations put restrictions for women that they can’t go outside the house without a man and we’re not allowed to work.

The girls were prohibited to go to school and study. It was banned for girls above 8 years old to visit the school or take admission. The offences like murder or adultery were taken care of by the public executions, and the crime branch was handled by amputations.

The women were not allowed to visit or watch sports events and prohibition was implemented on kite flying, television, cinema, photography, music, painting, and much more.

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More Laws Initiated By Taliban

Along with the above-written rules and laws, this group imposed a more restrictive environment on the citizens of Afghanistan. One of the prominent rules was that the people, especially women, had to face public floggings for any perceived wrongs which made women unconcerned. It also started massacres against the citizens of Afghanistan.

They used to drive campaigns against the minority people in terms of religion or ethnicity. Many girls and women were raped, thousands of people were killed and many seriously miserably committed. There was no imprint of democracy. The group has been criticized for breaking the 1500-year-old Buddha statues.

Doha Accord between the US and Taliban

Due to the inhumane and disastrous activities of the Taliban group, America broke into a fight with it. This made the Taliban bend down and accept the peace treaty. It was done on 29th February 2020. This is called the second peace treaty. It is also called the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan for making it a better place to live in.

The American troops asked the community to come from Afghanistan within 14 months if the Taliban upheld the terms of the agreement. This agreement was made by the American army to bring peace and harmony to the country. It made the Taliban away from Afghanistan. It is now visible that Afghanistan is in great danger and another step is required to be taken by the country in power.

Let’s Know the Taliban’s International Relations

The Taliban is seen getting support or funds from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The three countries were with this group while they were in power. The countries were the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. After the deadly attack of 9/11, the group got unrecognized. They were accused of sheltering terrorists such as Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden.

Afghanistan has always been against the group along with India and America. Almost all the countries believe that the terrorists get support and shelter from the Taliban group. This has made the group anti-human and intolerant.

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India and Taliban

India was never affected by the Taliban. It was always neglected by the democratic nation even when they were in power. The Indian air flight was once hijacked in 1999 and landed in Kandahar. It was suspected by the leaders and army forces that the hijackers are supported by the group.

India does not consider invalid people with wrong mindsets. India has supported the anti-Taliban Group which is known as the Northern alliance. After the peace treaty with America, the group has not indulged in unnecessary fights with any country. It came in support of India and reiterated the matters of Kashmir. The group said that it is an internal matter. The Taliban has not begun any sort of negative activities with India.

Current Taliban Activities

The Islamic community has come again to get control over Afghanistan. It is creating a massive outbreak of negativity and a war environment in the nation and for the other countries too. The people are finding a place to hide or leave the nation. There is a huge crowd at the airports and stations as people are going to other places to find a better life.

The leader of the nation has flown away to save his life. The group is killing people and capturing women. The posters are getting snatched from the highways and walls of the streets to save the girls from being molested or wrongly used. This will affect the entire world.

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Conclusion

The situation at Afghanistan has become uncontrollable and detrimental. This activity will affect all the nations badly.

You must stick to authentic news channels, newspapers, magazines, and websites to be aware of all the causes and happenings. Keep checking updated articles on the UPSC Pathshala. You will get the current news and blogs on related topics to increase your knowledge and awareness in the context of the present scenario.

If you want to know more about such topics for your UPSC exam or want to come in contact with the experts, you must visit the UPSC Pathshala website. It will boost your confidence and drive maximum scores to you.