Taliban

In the post 9/11, the discursive construction of identity through discourses has become a norm in international politics in justifying foreign policies. What makes us believe is the interpretation given by dominant discourse through text, speeches, or media. Discourses not only construct a narrative on the national and international front but also rationalize certain policies and make other unthinkable. This is how it happened in Pakistan’s tribal areas[1]. The Pashtun social and cultural identity is mispresented through mainstream discourse as a cause of the conflict both in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Drawing on Lene Hansen post-structuralist discourse theory, this paper questions Pakistan''s mainstream discourse and evaluates how and why Pashtun social identity is discursively co-constituted in post 9/11? The paper argues that the discursive construction of Pashtun’s identity not only rationalizes geopolitics but also justifies the ongoing conflict in the tribal areas. The paper further argues that the prolonged conflict in the region should be understood as a regional power struggle for serving their geostrategic objective.

After the fall of the republic in Afghanistan and the raising of the Taliban flag on the presidential palace, many thought that Afghanistan would GO back in time and return to the years before 2001. There WERE serious concerns about endangering the rights of women, the rights of ethnic-religious minorities, as well as the reappearance of foreign terrorist groups, especially Al-Qaeda, in Afghanistan. Considering these elements, many researchers question whether the Taliban has changed its principles, and whether or not the world is facing neo-Talibans. This study aimed to analyze the intellectual tradition of the Taliban with the framework of Laclau and Mouffe's theory, along with discourse methodology. The research examines the central signifiers of the Taliban discourse and their effect on the right of women, ethnic-religious, and foreign terrorist groups. The results indicate that the intellectual tradition of the Taliban is influenced by the powerful Pashtun culture of the governorate, which follows the three principles of honor, superiority, and hospitality, and affects the right of women, ethnic-religious, and foreign terrorist groups, along with the teachings of the Deobandy school.

After twenty years of endeavor to equalize women's rights in the half-dead democracy of Afghanistan, the dream of equal rights for women in the Afghan society was destroyed by the arrival of the Taliban group. This group and its supporters have committed countless crimes during their rule in Afghanistan. In 2021, when this group comes to power, the women's experience of two decades ago will be repeated, and women will be deprived of their most basic rights. Like two decades ago, the Taliban removed the girls from social life by closing schools and imprisoning them at home. The recent actions of the Taliban against women include the following areas: exclusion from education, exclusion from work, exclusion from political activities, and restriction of activities in the public space, all these decrees and rulings against women's activities are from the source of Sharath and religious fatwas. The Taliban has been issued. In this research, we are looking at the influencing factors of the Taliban's thoughts on restricting the rights of women in the society of Afghanistan. In this research, we have compared the differences between the religious thoughts and beliefs of the Taliban, which are adapted from Islamic rulings, and the religious fatwa of the Taliban leaders with Islamic rulings.

Pak-Iran relations are of great importance for both states. There have been some stumbling blocks in bilateral relations: India-Iran ties, Sectarianism, Jundullah, and the Taliban are all factors that have harmed relations in the post-9/11 era. However, the changing regional dynamics provide for opportunities following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. This research looks into the factors that did not allow the relationship to grow altogether despite the existing potential in the post-9/11 period. The growing India-Iran ties, their North-South Transport Corridor, and the Indian plan to include Chabahar in it are causing concern in Islamabad. This mistrust needs to be bridged to augment cooperation. Moreover, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the China-Iran comprehensive cooperation agreement are good developments for both Pakistan and Iran to turn the relationship into a closer partnership. The changing dynamics in the region provide opportunities for both the states to adopt.

Introduction: The Taliban used religion to justify their brutal totalitarian government, which lacked any moral and religious values. In the field of ethics and gender, the Taliban's perception of women's political-social rights meant depriving them of any political-social activities. Due to the importance of ethics and gender, this research was conducted with the aim of investigating the status of women's rights and freedom of speech in the political thought of the Taliban. Material and Methods: This is an applied descriptive-analytical type in terms of its purpose, it was among quantitative researches. The statistical population of the research was Afghan women living in Shiraz. Participants include 350 Afghan women living in Shiraz, who were selected by available sampling method. Data was gathered by researcher-made questionnaire. Finally, data were analyzed using the t-test method and SPSS software. Results: The findings show that the awareness of Afghan women about their rights in the field of education, violence against women, marriage, freedom of speech, clothing status, medical and therapeutic services, presence in society, political participation, urban services and human rights in Afghanistan is low and very low. Conclusion: The results showed that according to the opinion of Afghan women who had lived under the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, the situation of women's rights and freedom of expression in the political thought of the Taliban was estimated to be very bad. The Taliban's goal of dealing with women and preventing their political-social services, before it is caused by Islamic Sharia or ethnic and tribal customs, is a political method and a government strategy