The Taliban want to lay down the law. Far outside Kabul, rural Afghans just want to be paid

When in power between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban prohibited women from leaving the house without being accompanied by a man, forced them to cover their bodies, and prevented them from working in virtually any field, from the exception of health care.

In recent days, a journalist has traveled from the Pakistani border to south-eastern Afghanistan and to Kabul. Along the way, he attended Taliban rallies and spoke to locals and business owners about how the militant group’s takeover affected them.

In some towns, the new rule of law has been forcibly imposed on residents; Afghans who spoke to the reporter generally described a general feeling of improved security since the arrival of the Taliban.

But the trip also revealed a wedge between the Taliban’s insistence on a strict new social order and the locals’ simple and desperate need to make a living. Many businesses have been devastated, with owners desperate for customers and employees for months without pay. There are also concerns about Afghans’ access to basic services and whether health care will be widely available in the weeks and months to come.

And as thousands flock to the borders in an attempt to escape the Taliban, those who remain have engaged in a delicate dynamic with local Taliban officials – many of whom have heard a lot about the rule of law, but little about the future of their finances. , their businesses and their communities.

The new regime

The Taliban quickly established their own courts across the country. “Before, we had to go far to get a Taliban court,” said a local leader at one of these sites in Gardez, the capital of Paktia province. Today, there are many established across the country, reminiscent of the Taliban’s previous harsh policing policies.

A judge, his deputy and other local leaders sit in a circle on the floor, discussing the sweeping change in governance of the previous weeks.

“We asked the previous judges how they worked, (and) they said they followed the law of the land, not the Sharia,” said Taliban judge Qazi Ubaidullah. “In the Islamic Emirate, all legal proceedings comply with Sharia law.

It’s unclear how radical the Taliban’s interpretation of Sharia law will be this time around – about two decades ago it led to the persecution and targeting of various groups including women, LGBTQ people. and ethnic minorities.

A glance at a public Taliban rally gives a much more optimistic first impression. “Look around, everyone is happy,” said a former local at a Taliban event in Nawa. “A new life has started in Afghanistan.”

But several other people across the region did not speak affectionately about the Taliban until the cameras were on. Behind the scenes, many Afghans are clearly concerned about what the new regime means to them.

“Our situation is not good”

In a hospital just west of the border, the most pressing concern is money. A maternity nurse says the small medical center has not experienced any problems in the weeks following the Taliban takeover; but she says she has not received a salary for four consecutive months.

Dr Janad Khan, responsible for running the small medical center, unlocks the lock on the door to the reserve. Inside the dusty room, amid the wrapped files and boxes, there are enough medical supplies for three months.

“May, June, July, August… these are on hold,” he said, displaying a stack of payments he was supposed to receive from the Afghan government as he entered his final weeks in power. Since the area fell to the Taliban last month, Khan said he had not received the payments necessary to run the hospital.

And while many people around the world are watching the Taliban’s approach to social justice very closely, economic concerns remain the number one concern for many Afghans, as they were months ago.

“The prices are high. Everything is very expensive, ”says a fruit seller at a market in Paktika province. “Our situation is not good.

The Taliban are visible in rural areas, but many Afghans believe they have failed to reassure the population. “We don’t know who is responsible; only lower rank people are here and we don’t know if we can trust (them), ”says the fruit seller. “They are not telling us anything and the situation has not improved.”

Poverty was rampant in Afghanistan before the Taliban took power, and in the weeks following their takeover, the country’s already fragile economy collapsed. Weeks of bank closures have prevented millions of people from accessing their savings, and international agencies, including the World Bank and the IMF, have suspended funding in the region.

On Tuesday, the Taliban announced a new interim government. Its uncompromising makeup – made up largely of veterans who oversaw the 20-year struggle against the US-led military coalition – could complicate international normalization efforts and thwart efforts to resume aid in the country. .

Médecins Sans Frontières (Médecins Sans Frontières) has warned that the country’s health system could collapse due to lack of international aid. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said last week that the country’s access to food aid and other vital resources was on the verge of depletion.

“A humanitarian catastrophe is looming,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said last week. “People are losing access to basic goods and services every day.

We don’t know what’s going on

In the streets of the eastern provinces of Afghanistan, this translates into an anxious daily reality.

“We don’t really know what’s going on, some people are scared, some have their own issues to deal with and some have left the country,” said a man at the market. Another says a rumor has spread in his community that the salaries of doctors and teachers are going to be cut.

“We haven’t been paid for four or five months,” he says. “The old government is gone… but even in this new configuration (there are) no salaries.”

In a tea room, where finances are more stable, the owner adds: “I have nothing to say about the Taliban, my business is going well.

But basic local concerns always take precedence. “The only complaint I have is that the roads are closed, and I want them to reopen soon, so that our products can be transported.”

The grievances found here and in southeastern Afghanistan demonstrate a gulf between the Taliban’s focus on social order priorities and the concerns of many Afghans.

“We have problems with the economy,” said another man, asserting an undeniable truth that has driven thousands of people to Afghanistan’s borders in recent weeks. “The Taliban should improve relations with the world, aid should come back, projects should start over.”

For those who are ready to share their true feelings, doubts remain as to whether the Taliban will measure up.