The Endless Massacre and Horrific Violence of the Taliban

Nobody is this universe has the power to enforce a certain belief onto others and more importantly to take a human life over it. Everyone in this world is created equal and we should not give in to the fear by others.. Recently in Kabul, Afghanistan there was ambulance attack that killed 95 and injured 158 people caused by the Islamic group called the ‘Taliban’. The Taliban are an extreme Islamic movement that rule Afghanistan during 1991-2001. Their main goal proposes a threat to its government and to enforce their own austere version of Sharia which is their Islamic law.. Taking a pure life is nothing new for the Taliban. They’ve done it many years ago and they keep doing it our current world. The incident started out as an attacker driving an ambulance packed with explosives detonated in Kabul. The attack, in the heart of what's meant to be the securest part of the city, is likely to fuel doubts over the Afghan authorities' ability to keep people safe (Popalzai and Spark), meaning this happened in one of the secure zone is Kabul by the government office and foreign embassies. The police had spotted the attacker at the check point, but they were too late to stop the attacker where he had already the detonated the explosives. The key issue this incident brings up is the safety and protection of the people living in Kabul. Evaluating this issue on a global level is absolutely tragic and heart-breaking. This act from the Taliban also encourages other extremist groups to impose their power in this certain way. This would drastically impact economies around the world in a negative way by motivating other groups to kill innocent lives to show their power and to enforce their certain laws. This also brings conflict in to the Kabul’s society. If the people living in their society can’t walk out without catching a bullet in their head or being shred in to pieces by the bombs landed in their house, then I wouldn’t call it a safe society to live in.

This incident alone has caused grief, pain and most importantly fear among the society. The region where this massacre occurred was in Kabul. The devastating attacks and number of victims Kabul had just in the past week makes Kabul one of the dangerous region in Afghanistan. The impact of this would be people wouldn’t want to live in this city anymore nor anybody wants to enter Kabul as well, leaving Kabul in the hands of the Taliban and giving them more power to this region and brings them one step closer to taking over Afghanistan. As for individual level this issue enforces a negative impact on it. Every individual has their own certain set of beliefs they value, but it someone where to enforce a particular belief on them and hold an absolute power over them is unfair. Individuals should have the right to choose their certain beliefs and shouldn’t feel overwhelmed by their choices nor be held under by a ruthless power that is not beneficial for them.

In the book, “I Am Malala” by Malala Yousafzai shows how a young girl stood up against the Taliban and fought for her right to an education and got shot in the head. As she remarked in her book, “I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after a midday” (Yousafzai and Lamb 3) Malala was one of many victims by the Taliban. Malala and many other girls were forbidden education in Pakistan under the power of Taliban.

The Taliban prevented kids from getting an education. As she said, “The Taliban could take our pens and books, but they couldn’t stop our minds from thinking.”(Yousafzai and Lamb 146). The Taliban wanted to show their power by enforcing their beliefs and preventing kids from going to school. They do not care for anything but their own law. Thus they tried to boycott other beliefs and by disrespecting their own religion. As she remarked, “The Taliban are abusing our religion. If they want every person in the world to be Muslim, why don’t they show themselves to be good Muslims first? (Yousafzai and Lamb 149). The Taliban doesn’t stop their rampage there. As Malala remarked, “It not just the Taliban killing children. Sometimes its drone attacks, sometimes its wars, sometimes its hunger. And sometimes it’s their own family” (Yousafzai and Lamb 312). This shows that the Taliban is a dangerous group and they have no remorse in taking an innocent life to gain power and enforce their ideologies by force.

As Malala said towards the end of her book, “Today Swat is more peaceful than other places, but there are militaries everywhere. Our valley which was once a haven for tourists, is seen now a place of fear” (Yousafzai and Lamb 312-313). The solution this book offers was that there’s still the US military still guarding the Swat even four years after they removed the Taliban. I can personally appreciate the peaceful in my society where I’m not crowded by the police and the military. One thing I can understand and value in this situation is protection. Even if it’s loud, packed and noisy with militaries, if end of the day they do their job in keeping the people safe, then I think that’s more important. Which is why I agree with this idea of protecting and keeping the valley safe.

How big of a crisis do the Taliban bring to Afghanistan? In the book, “The Taliban and the crisis of Afghanistan” by the ‘Robert D.Crews’ and ‘Amin Tarzi’, examines Taliban effort to drive out the American allies and restore their “Islamic Emirate” (Crews and Tarzi). One of the ways they abused their power is by training the Pakistani religious school to implement their belief. They were trained “practice of political concepts like jihad as “holy war” against the Soviets and the West” (Crews and Tarzi 107). This was a serious because the kids were taught the expectation of a holy war around the world. The crisis is rooted form the lack of power and the fear infused in people to stand up and fight against the Taliban. As it remarks on the book, “The reemergence of the defeated Taliban and their growing influence among populations are fueled by the deepening crisis of democracy in a region where people lack political representation and the basic opportunities necessary to emerge from this crisis”( Crews and Tarzi 117). This shows that the Taliban view themselves above others and their power is built from lack of courage in people to fight back.

The solution this books brings by saying that, if they can’t “eradicate the domestic criminal networks, cut off the foreign lifelines, and isolate and defeat the remaining pockets of insurgency and terrorists elements, the Afghan government may lose the general population’s support as it seeks alternative to improve its daily life” (Crews and Tarzi 310) meaning the people who are helpless might need to reach out their arms to the Taliban. Again I would have to agree with the idea of putting an end to criminal networks and destroy the terrorist’s activities because then that’s the only way they can vanish Taliban out of existence. If they don’t do nothing and give up to the fear that causes Taliban to grow like cancer, then they won’t have a chance to survive.

In the book, “Afghanistan’s Endless War” by ‘Larry P. Goodson’ shows the Taliban’s motive to purify and unify. I tried not to get fooled by the words ‘purify’ and ‘unify’ because the routes and measure they take to accomplish was extremely radical and inhumane. The Talban claimed that “the people that fear the Taliban are like a sick person. The first taste of medicine is bad, but it tastes better with time- they have forgotten the taste of Islam” (Goodson 109). Their killings and massacre is compared to first taste of medicine, but how it does it get better after killing thousands of innocent victims and banishing the right education the youth deserves?

As it remarks on the book, “a broad-based government that includes all the major groups and actors, adequately represented and with sufficient guarantees of local autonomy is probably the only solution to Afghanistan’s crisis (Goodson 181).The solution this books presents against the Taliban crisis is with the help of self-governance to gain its independence. Also with the help of the US taking a leading active role in securing a settlement in Afghanistan would help them to be safe from the Taliban. If they do that then this would stop the supplies of weapons and war materials from outside the country. I believe this is a rational idea because the Afghanistan government can’t fight the Taliban by themselves. Thus with the help of the US military they have a better chance to beat the Taliban and be free of them.

The solutions presented in these situations could actually be helpful to keep the people safe. I have learned that the Taliban and the movement is not peaceful or ideal and under no circumstances they should not be tolerated in the society. My personal evaluation is that the US should step up like as it mentioned in one of the book. Both the people and the government are helpless in this situation. They only way they could survive is with the help of the US. They could also stand up against the Taliban rather than giving up to the fear. The Taliban is driven by the fear people have for them. If the people stated to show no fear for the Taliban, that could also help them bring on step closer to a Taliban free society.

The Taliban are everything I stand against. I respect the Islam religion and the Quran. The way the Taliban rule is not by the holy book. They are extremely dangerous and I learned that they’ll do anything to enforce their own values and slap it on to innocent people. The way they operate and how they just bombed these people just breaks my heart. It’s painful for me to hear about it, talk about it and even writing this essay about it. Even if I close my eyes that won’t make this issue untrue. That’s why I felt the need to choose this as my topic and make myself aware of this issue. I’m strongly defending against the Taliban and their actions. I just hope everyone else can do the same in order to gain their freedom and peace back.

In conclusion I personally believe the Taliban should be eradicated. I know it may sound harsh but it has to be done for the greater good. I never want to hear stories about a girl shot in her head because she fought for her education or innocents getting blasted by bombs. The Taliban movement only brings fear and sorrow to our society. Nobody can claim power over others or make others follow their ideologies. Like Malala remarked, “How will you accept Islam if I put a gun to your head and say Islam is the true religion?”(149). This is the Taliban way of prosecuting their beliefs and us Individuals should not surrender to such act of violence. Besides “Allah” created us all equal and we shall not kneel towards anybody else and be afraid of anybody.