TALIBAN GOVERNANCE IN AFGHANISTAN: A TALE OF TWO POLITICAL ERAS

Abstract

This study aims to analyse the government and politics in Afghanistan under Taliban government in 1996 and 2021. The research shall present a comparative analysis of Taliban’s governance structures particularly its approach towards the women, minorities, civic rights and its stance towards the national and international terrorist organizations. In their first regime, Taliban focused on establishing an administrative structure based on conservative interpretation of Islamic principles and ideals. Arguably, this era witnessed a strict repressive Taliban rule with no social space for women, discriminatory treatment of minorities, wilful disregard for fundamental rights and providing safe havens for the global terrorist outfits. However, the second Taliban regime that was formed in the wake of historic deal between the Taliban and the US government in Qatar followed a significant shift in Taliban’s governance pattern and its increased regard for the international norms and laws. This study underlines the similarities and shifts in Taliban’s governance framework in their two regimes. Further, the attempts to identify the domestic and international factors that has inspired the Taliban to reorient its ideological and governance structures.