The “hegemony” of the Pashtun Taliban rule is not “civil society”, but mosques and religious schools as “soft power”.
Author: Fayaz Bahraman Najimi, analyst of regional and global issues, member of the Sangar Advisory Board.
In a previous article, we answered the question "Why is the world interacting with the Taliban"? Now we are looking for an answer to another question: "How to fight the Taliban?"
Persian “cultural hegemony” against the Taliban
The Taliban have occupied both the religious sphere since there is no opposition to them, and the economic sphere. Although they have no economic knowledge, they even instinctively and primitively support a free market economic system.
What challenges the Taliban is not the pursuit of democracy or freedoms based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but the alternative of giving birth to Persian linguistic and cultural power - when I say Taliban, I mean the full power of the Afghans!
Now the Taliban, like most traditional Pashtuns, have rolled up their sleeves and want to destroy other cultures, especially Persian. Their sensitivity is a sign of their cultural "inferiority complex".
It should not be forgotten that this complex was and is present in the thoughts of every Pashtun.
Most of those who grew up in Persian culture think or write about Afghan power. Clinging to the Persian language never made them with Persian identities!
Until now, we have been faced with identity and "hegemony", that is, Afghanis as the only alternative to power.
Most Persian writers of Pashtun origin were in fact a means of maintaining Pashtun hegemony over other ethnic groups, especially Persian speakers. This hegemony is ensured by both "soft power" and "hard power". "Civil institutions" or "civil society" was one of the important instruments of the Arg's dominance over the non-Pashtun educated class, especially during the Republican era. Today Pashtuns in the West, under the pretext of "civil society", continue to develop Pashtun "dominance" among the non-Pashtun intelligentsia. It cannot be said that among the Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, and other migrants there are many servants of the Afghan authorities!
In Afghanistan, the "hegemony" of the Pashtun Taliban rule is not "civil society", but mosques and religious schools as "soft power".
The media and "hard power", that is, the machine of coercion, also work to realize their dominance.
Also part of this domination were Tajik, Khazar, Uzbek, and other mullahs, in addition to the leaders of the drug mafia.
There is no other alternative to this domination than the Persian theory of "cultural hegemony".
Now, if the Taliban are in power or another Pashtun comes tomorrow, it will be possible to fight them only with Persian identity, linguistic and ethnic means.
If Persian speakers remain dormant for longer, sooner or later the global and internal wave will throw them out completely.
The majority can immigrate or flee to Iran, Tajikistan, and Central Asia, while the remaining and surrendering minority will change their identity without resistance, and their children will lose it.
Faithful and militant Persian-speaking political organizations should start working together on a common Persian hegemonic platform and use all modern tools in a coordinated and cohesive manner on a specific agenda with a unified plan of action.
The virtual and public political space of the Persian speakers must be transformed and organized, and we must not wait for this or that military group associated with foreign countries to do so. To educate our people is a great patriotic, humane, and moral deed, which only good people and those who serve the people can do.
There must be a fight against populism and demagogy because the future of our people, language, and identity is in danger!
