Afghanistan’s ‘Internet Generation’ fear peace with Taliban

For five years until 2001, the fundamentalist Islamic movement ruled much of Afghanistan with a brutal interpretation of sharia law
Peace with the group is now a prospect, but the country’s young adults dread what that might mean for their futures

Afghanistan

Ezzatullah Mehrdad

Published: 1:16pm, 16 Apr 2019

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At the turn of the millennium, vast tracts of Afghanistan were under the control of the Taliban – the fundamentalist militant movement that emerged from a civil war in the 90s to seize power and establish a self-styled Islamic emirate.

While the Taliban ruled, television, music and cinemas were banned. Men were made to grow beards and women had to wear the all-enveloping burka. The group imposed a brutal version of sharia law that mandated public executions and amputations, and barred women from all aspects of public life.

Under the Taliban, Afghan women had to wear the all-enveloping burka. Photo: AFP

The regime was toppled in 2001 following a US-led invasion, and in the years since a new generation of Afghans has emerged in the country’s big cities who have lived most, if not all, of their lives free of the yoke of hardline Islamism.

Afghanistan’s population – estimated at 35 million – is overwhelmingly young, with 63.7 per cent under the age of 25, according to the UN Population Fund.

This so-called Internet Generation has been influenced as much by social media and international pop culture as by the teachings of religious scholars. Many have had better access to education than past generations and have only ever seen the Taliban on the news.

Afghan security officials present suspected Taliban militants in front of media in Badakhshan on March 3. Photo: EPA

But despite being overthrown, the Taliban was never fully defeated and over the past two decades the group has fought a wide-ranging insurgency that has seen it reclaim a sizeable portion of the territory that it ruled over at its height – land that is home to more than 10 per cent of Afghanistan’s total population, according to a United States government report released in January.

In July, US President Donald Trump ordered diplomats to seek direct talks with the group for the first time – in the hope of ending a war that has dragged on for more than 17 years.

Qatari officials mediate talks between US and Taliban representative on February 25. Photo: Handout

Some among the Internet Generation fear these talks could pave the way for the Taliban to return to power, and reinstate their version of sharia law.

Mohammad* is among them. The 19-year-old university student met 18-year-old high-school graduate Fatima* five years ago through a chance encounter on Facebook and in April last year they decided to take their relationship to the next level by declaring their love for one another.

“We envision a future together,” said Mohammad. “We have promises to keep and dreams to realise together.”

But the spectre of the Taliban’s possible return weighs heavily on his mind. “I am afraid of not seeing her again when the Taliban come,” he said.

In February, the highest-level negotiations yet between the fundamentalist Islamic group and American diplomats began in the Qatari capital of Doha. The two sides discussed the terms of a ceasefire, US troop withdrawal and security guarantees.

Little progress appears to have been made so far in the peace talks, according to media reports – yet the very fact that the Taliban is being given a seat at the negotiating table worries some, especially after a meeting in Moscow that same month between members of the group and as many as 40 Afghan politicians – though none were representatives of the government of Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan’s current president.

Arts student Zarkhuna Haidary in the bookstore where she works. Photo: Ezzatullah Mehrdad

Zarkhuna Haidary, a fourth-year arts student at Kabul University, has been watching the developments with concern. She is worried about the return of a form of government that prevented women from accessing education.

“We are afraid of the Taliban regime coming back,” said the 22-year-old, who recently organised a conference at her university to discuss the issue. “I see the potential in young people to stand up. We are ready to fight and resist against any restriction.”

Former Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Photo: AP

A peace deal with the Taliban would have precedent in Afghanistan’s recent history. In 2016, former warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar – leader of Hezb-e-Islami, another Islamist organisation – reached an agreement with Ghani’s government that brought him back in from the battlefield after almost two decades in exile.

Hezb-i-Islami grew to prominence in the 80s during the Soviet-Afghan war and proved to be a potent insurgent force that carried out a number of suicide bombings in the years since, but today its political arm is more powerful than its militant one – Hekmatyar has even announced his intention to run in the country’s presidential election later this year.

Ahmad Milad Sheva plays his guitar in Kabul. Photo: Ezzatullah Mehrdad

The prospect of a resurgent Taliban being given the opportunity to grasp the levers of power once again frightens Haidary, the arts student, who just wants to be able to “work and study freely” and for her and her peers to be given the space to “build our own country”, absent of strict religious mandates.

Ahmad Milad Sheva’s main concern is that musical instruments might once again be banned, as they were during the five years of Taliban rule.

“I always wanted to play guitar,” said the 20-year old university student. “I hope I can continue.”

*Names changed at interviewees’ request

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