What the Taliban learnt from Islamic State’s mistakes

When ISIS came in Iraq and Syria it also talked about governance but it was missing political legitimacy. It had religious legitimacy and a strong social hold but it was missing political legitimacy. The Taliban have understood this.

They now know that more than religious or social, they will need political legitimacy. And so as soon as they came, and took over Kabul, the first thing they did was open a complaint cell. The message was that governance is now in our hands.

This morning we saw the Taliban leadership in Kabul going to different hospitals where they met female nurses and doctors and told them to continue working as they were their sisters and daughters. Shamshad and Tolonews showed Taliban commanders interviewed by women reporters.
This sends the message that they will be changed this time. They will not work as they did before.

It was interesting to see human rights activists, women, protest against the Taliban in Kabul. And the Taliban let them protest. This has never happened in the entire history of the Taliban. But the women were there with their placards against the Taliban and the strange thing was that Taliban fighters were escorting them. They provided them security. It’s like an amalgamation of democracy and Talibanization.

The Taliban have told women to stay inside and this is being interpreted in two ways: as a restriction and as protection.

And so at the moment it seems that the Taliban have for their political legitimacy decided this is their strategy.

The new government seems to be veering towards values that may rub up against old ideals that their fighters held dear.

Most of the Taliban fighters are religiously trained. And the recruitment is mostly based on religious ideology, not political ideology. So now we want to see how the Taliban will steer towards social ideology. There will be a lot of men in the ranks who will be against this.

In 2014, after Mullah Omar’s death, we saw a splinter group of Mullah Yaqub. But the way they quashed that shows that they have control over their men.

But that was a different time. They were in a state of war. So now they will have to lay down their weapons and focus on nation-building. Even Mullah Baradar said as much, and that their work had just begun. This is a political statement.

But experts are seeing if any Taliban groups start talking about an ISIS-branded Shariah or radical Shariah then there is a risk they may break off. And they could join ISIS.

Source: Samaa