Taliban - Case Study Example

Download file to see previous pages... (Gerard Delanty, 2003) Its definition depends on which criterion is used to categorize the population under consideration.
This paper aims to describe all aspects of a selected community. I have chosen Taliban as the community under discussion. Taliban is a cultural, ideological and a political community and has a history and presence that has changed how the world operates.
Taliban is a word derived from the Persian word 'Talib' which means religious student. (William Maley, 1998) It started off with a group of a couple of hundred people who got educated in Madurassas or Islamic Schools. They were mostly from the Pashtun ethnic group which constitutes for 40 percent of the Afghan population. (Ahmed Rashid, 2002)
They did not gain popularity until soviets left Afghanistan and different cliques and divisions started fighting amongst themselves for control. The Afghan Population got sick of how things were working in Afghanistan as there was no law and order maintained in the country, the infrastructure was completely destroyed and in short, Afghanistan was on the verge of becoming a Failed State. The almost failed state needed a well organized government which had no other interests other than the well being of the country. Taliban was perfect for this and soon it managed to take over Kabul and Kandahar, the two most important cities of Afghanistan because of their strategic locations. Law and order was brought back in Afghanistan and people saw a change.
There were a couple of events which led for the popularity of Taliban within and out of Afghanistan. It rescued a Afghan Family and a Pakistani trade convey from gangs. It got supported from the Pakistan Intelligence because it wanted Taliban to protect its trade convoy and other personal motives. It also got support from various other countries. The United States of America supported Taliban because it could see stabilization of Afghanistan under their rule. Saudi Arabia supported Taliban because it was a Sunni movement which is a sect in Islam and United Arab Emirates also supported Taliban for the same reason. Taliban being a Sunni movement would be against the Muslims of Iran and would benefit Saudi Arabia and UAE.



Culture
The culture of the Taliban is not uncommon in the area where they are bred. They belong to tribes which have their own governance system in which and their ideology is basically extremism when it comes to their religion and they were on the whole anti modern. They believe in giving women little or no power. Therefore, it was not surprising to see how they ruled Afghanistan.
The rule under Taliban imposed extreme understanding of the Islamic Law which was not the most practical and acceptable approach of running a country in the twentieth century. The women were forced to wear burqas, a kind of robe that covers the body from head to toe. They were not allowed to get education after the age of eight. The girls' gross enrollment ratio by 25.6 just before Taliban took over Kabul in 1995. It was 32 and it fell to 6.4 in 1999. (American Institute for research, 2006)
The men were all forced to keep beards and wear turbans. Non Muslims were to wear different coloured clothes which would distinguish them. Music, TV, videos, cards, kite-flying was all banned. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More