Introduction
In the context of Afghanistan’s political transformations over the past two decades, projects of re-presentation and redefinition of social realities have been inseparable from power struggles and geopolitical interests. Following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021, concerted efforts to whitewash the image of this extremist group entered a new phase—a phase in which international lobbyists and power-driven actors have sought to craft alternative narratives, portraying the Taliban as an “inevitable reality” or even a “moderated group” in Afghanistan’s future political order.
Notably, recent claims by Sheryl Benard—president of ARCH International and wife of Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation—in an article asserting that the Taliban’s enforcement of mandatory hijab and male guardianship for women “lacks reality” and that “most women move about with just a headscarf without covering their faces,” exemplify such systematic attempts to distort Afghanistan’s social reality.
The recent Twitter Space session hosted by the Afghanistan Women’s Justices Movement was a conscious response to this wave of political narrative-building. Featuring two distinguished analysts—Dr. Murteza Sarem and Besmillah Taban—the session critically examined the phenomenon of lobbying to legitimize the Taliban. This event was not only an effort to revisit Zalmay Khalilzad’s role as a key architect of the Doha Agreement but also an epistemological endeavor to defend truth, amplify suppressed voices, and uphold the discourse of women’s resistance against colonial-ideological projects in Afghanistan.
As the international community stands at a crossroads between embracing Afghanistan’s objective reality or succumbing to tailored narratives, such civil society dialogues can play a pivotal role in redefining political priorities, exposing hidden actors, and safeguarding collective memory.
Dr. Morteza Saarem: Roots of Whitewashing in Tribal Structures
Dr. Morteza Sarm, with a profound perspective, opened his remarks with a fundamental question: Why is a group widely recognized as a symbol of tyranny and backwardness praised by some human rights advocates and politicians? Highlighting the Taliban’s terrorist nature, its ties to foreign intelligence, and its primitive tribal structure, he stressed that the Taliban has achieved no positive outcomes during its four years of rule to warrant defense. So, what compels some to support this oppressive group?
Sarm traced the roots of this support to Afghanistan’s traditional and tribal social structure, which for centuries has revolved around tribal interests, sacrificing all values to preserve power and tribal status. He stated candidly: “Tribal interests are so deeply entrenched in this structure that it matters not whether the supporter is a man or a woman; even those who once championed women’s rights now defend the Taliban because tribal gain supersedes all else.”
Citing Hassan Abbas’s book, which unveils secret contacts between Ashraf Ghani and the Haqqani network, Saarem demonstrated that even seemingly national decisions, such as the surrender of Kabul, were rooted in tribal interests rather than national welfare. He described this structure as a system that sacrifices human values and inevitably molds any individual or movement entering it to conform to its norms. He added: “Elections in Afghanistan turn into tribal contests, and policies are designed not for the public good but to preserve tribal power.”
Sarm also referenced his new work, Banu, a narrative of the lives and struggles of 17 Afghan women protesters. Crafted through in-depth interviews, this work seeks to depict resistance against Taliban oppression and reveal the group’s true face—not a modern political system but a regressive, tribal structure that stops at no crime to maintain its tribal interests.
In conclusion, he proposed strategies to counter Taliban lobbying: hosting dialogue spaces, structured social media activism, impactful articles, and amplifying the voices of human rights activists. He warned that without robust organization, the voices of Taliban victims will be drowned out by the international microphones of lobbyists.
Besmillah Taban: A Critique of Distorted Narratives
Besmillah Taban a security studies researcher with a sharp critique, began by dissecting Sheryl Benard’s article in The National Interest. He viewed it as part of Zalmay Khalilzad and his wife’s efforts to whitewash the Taliban, rooted in their shared interests spanning academia and NGOs. Taban emphasized that the couple leverages their influence to present the Taliban as a legitimate and acceptable global force.
He labeled Benard’s view of Afghanistan a “VIP narrative,” shaped not by the lived experiences of the people but by selective encounters and Taliban-provided facilities. With biting irony, Taban remarked: “Ms. Benard stays in a luxury hotel in Kabul, yet remains oblivious to the suffering of Tajik and northern communities just steps away, who face daily arbitrary arrests and extortion by the Taliban due to their ethnic affiliations.”
Pointing to the Taliban’s atrocities, including covert massacres in Jalalabad and Kabul—where victims’ bodies were buried as “unidentified”—Taban asked: “Is Benard aware of these horrors? Has she visited west Kabul to hear the victims’ voices?” He cited the case of Mahdi in Jaghori, whose family, fearing Taliban violence, could not even hold a proper burial. Taban added: “The Taliban’s prisons have been filled over the past three years, with new ones being built in Panjshir, Farah, and Kandahar, while prison capacity was never fully utilized during the 20 years of the Republic.”
Citing cases like Salahuddin Badakhshani and Qasim Qayem, who fell victim to Taliban policies, Taban showed that the group targets former security forces not only in Afghanistan but also in neighboring countries. He called the whitewashing of the Taliban not just a distortion of truth but a betrayal of victims, silencing the voices of women and ethnic and religious minorities.
Consequences of Whitewashing the Taliban
Taban outlined six dangerous consequences of whitewashing the Taliban:
1. Legitimizing a Repressive Regime: Lobbyists, by promoting debunked claims like economic growth, portray the Taliban as a legitimate government, despite Afghanistan’s economy teetering on collapse and people lacking access to basic needs.
2. Silencing Victims’ Voices: This trend drowns out the voices of women and minorities against the international microphones of lobbyists, rendering justice struggles ineffective.
3. Reducing International Pressure: Presenting the Taliban as a pragmatic government diminishes Western governments’ inclination to pressure the group.
4. Increasing Despair and Migration: The international community’s indifference to Taliban atrocities drives despair and migration, depleting Afghanistan of its elites and human capital.
5. Emboldening Extremist Groups: Whitewashing the Taliban serves as a model for other extremist groups, encouraging them to use diplomacy to justify their crimes.
6. Misguiding Policymakers: Lobbyists’ misinformation leads to flawed policies that not only fail to help Afghans but also fuel regional instability.
Conclusion
This dialogue, featuring two distinguished scholars, served as a warning to the world that behind the veil of Taliban whitewashing lies a humanitarian catastrophe. The Taliban is not a legitimate force but an oppressive, tribal structure that sacrifices human values for group interests. The Afghanistan Women’s Justices Movement, through this event, reaffirmed that the voice of justice for Afghanistan’s people will not be silenced. Proposed strategies, including structured civil and media activism, can amplify this voice globally and stand firm against the distortion of truth.
