by Margaret Wang ‘25
Published Oct. 16th, 2021
The crisis that Afghanistan is currently experiencing is not foreign in the slightest. News companies and the general media have been endlessly reporting about the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and the takeover of the Taliban, hoping to show the world the cruel tactics of the Taliban against Afghans.
However, after the flow of unexpected headlines and breaking news, the situation in Afghanistan took a backseat, no longer being worth the concern or time of many Americans. Some may have assumed that the Afghans were at peace once more, and that the Taliban was uninterested in the numerous protests pertaining to their abrupt takeover. Sadly, that is quite far from the truth.
On Wednesday, September 15, impoverished Afghans living in a dense, abandoned military compound were ordered to leave by the Taliban, who wanted more housing for their soldiers.
Afghans were outraged over the sudden alteration to their once-normal lives. In retaliation to the new expulsion order, more than a hundred expelled citizens held a massive protest. According to the Associated Press, a widow known only by the name “Rabia” explained that she refuses to migrate until the Taliban provides for her and her five children, all of whom were cramped into a two-room mud house.
Fazil Mohammad, another civilian forced to leave his home, expressed his disappointment in the lack of organization and sympathy the Taliban had towards himself and his neighbors. Although Mohammad was in full support of them overtaking Afghanistan due to a perceived corruption of the government, he is deeply concerned for his well-being and is uneasy about what’s to come.
To add salt to the wound, the protesters from the rally held on September 13 were asked to leave, and as of now, their whereabouts are unknown. The condition of the remaining citizens has not been revealed either.
The Taliban clearly have not, and may never form, a sound “government” to lead Afghanistan. This group, without fail, has always resorted to violence in an attempt to fulfill their own agendas. The Taliban’s expulsion order is only one of the many brutal movements that they have pressed onto their people; who is to say what comes next.
In simple terms, Afghans are very much in danger. With the injustice of the expulsion order, which benefits Taliban soldiers at the cost of destitute squatters, it is only reasonable to say that Afghanistan’s issues are nowhere near being resolved.
The PawPrint