Exclusive: Indian expat who advised Afghanistan govt says Taliban are more brutal than ever now

"The Taliban of today is so much more like ISIS or Al Qaeda where you hear them doing something they have never done in the past. They are even more brutal. That face will come out only after they have established a firm government and get the international community to back them for it ..." This is what Jovitta Thomas, who was an advisor to the Afghanistan government, had to say about the new occupiers of Kabul.

Jovitta, who hails from Thrissur in Kerala, was an advisor to three Afghanistan government ministries and headed the biggest rural development programme in the war-torn country. 

Jovitta, who is also among the handful of expatriates who have worked in Taliban heartlands and interacted with them, spoke to Asianet News Online Editor Aby Tharakan about the prevailing situation in the country and much more.

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Talking about the Taliban blitz, Jovitta said, "Once the troops pulled out, the government that was in place till two or three days ago stood no chance to stay in power for long. What everyone went wrong, is the pace at which this fell -- the army disappeared, the government disappeared, the militias that have fought against the Taliban disappeared, the local warlords disappeared -- I think nobody predicted the pace."

Jovitta said she was asked last year as the government advisor about how long she thought the Afghan government could last after the complete pullout of all international troops (back then, the date given for the troop pullout was May 1).

"I predicted two months. But even that two months seems very optimistic. I was scolded at that time for being a pessimist. But it happened even before the deadline of 9/11 which US President Joe Biden had given. Even before that deadline, Kabul had fallen," she said.

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When asked about the Taliban portraying themselves as a changed outfit, Jovitta said that was partly true.

"The Taliban in 1996 was a handful of fighters in southern and southeastern Afghanistan, and across the Pashtun belt in Pakistan. They did not have a central command. They were led by local militias. They were not politically savvy. They were not led by a central command or have a political strategy. It did not have a centralised funding pool. They were a scattered group of militia with a common goal; possibly the only common factor was that they were all poor and all trained at madrassas. They were just a mixed faction," she said.

"The Taliban of today is much more politically savvy. They have a lot of educated people on board. They have understood the importance of capturing media attention and presenting a softer side to the international media. They are politically savvy, media-savvy, centrally-coordinated, centrally funded and better-managed. So there are two different Taliban. The real question is, have they changed their stance? Have they changed their attitude towards women? Have they changed their attitude towards local governance? You see a dichotomy in the interviews they have been giving, a clear divide between the political establishment of the Taliban and their spokespersons are telling you and what their local militia or fighters on the ground are telling you," she added.

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Jovitta, who has lived in Afghanistan in the past and travelled to 29 out of the 34 provinces in the country, reiterated that the Taliban have not changed and that they will be as ruthless and brutal as they were once they have set up a firm government. 

"The Taliban of today is so much more like ISIS or Al Qaeda where you hear them doing something they have never done in the past. They are going door-to-door and picking child brides or picking widows for their fighters. I would say that they are even more brutal. That face will come out only after they have established a firm government and get the international community to back them for it," she said.

Jovitta also slammed the international media for not posing the right questions when it comes to women's rights in Afghanistan.

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She said, "In some of the interviews from very major media organisations talking to militiamen or Taliban commanders and asking them questions like 'will women be able to walk outside without a burqa?' Is that really a women's issue? Why are we not asking the right questions? What happens to the hundreds of women graduates in the past 20 years? What happens to the women doctors? What happens to women senators, women prosecutors and judges who are at most risk? Women journalists who have put themselves in front of TV cameras? So why are we not asking the right questions to the Taliban or to the future government?"

Speaking about what she believed would happen next in terms of a new government in Afghanistan, Jovitta said it would not a Taliban-only government, but some form a loose coalition government. 

"I don't predict that the coalition will last very long. Once they do have the established presence, and international media attention fades -- I would give that about a year -- I would say that the coalition will break down. Either the international troops will realise that Afghanistan has become a haven for terrorists again or for breeding terror and they come back to Afghanistan or it will become a Taliban-only state that it was in 1996 and nobody would care about it," she concluded.

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