Page 44 - Šolsko polje, XXIX, 2018, no. 5-6: Radicalization, Violent Extremism and Conflicting Diversity, eds. Mitja Sardoč and Tomaž Deželan
P. 44
šolsko polje, letnik xxix, številka 5–6
understanding of the rise of radicalized groups in Afghanistan. For in-
stance, the tribes and sub-tribes fought for territory in the early eight-
eenth century. The colonization of Europe in the 1800s had yet another
element of territorial strife, with Britain increasing its world dominance
and forcible entry into Afghanistan creating an artificial an unnatural
boundary line – the Durand line – dividing the people of Afghanistan
until 1919. The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia also affected the nature
of the reforms and Afghan people, which raised hopes of removing the
British imperialism that it felt. The ideals of the socialist attempt at world
revolution would affect the Afghan tribes and their way of life. Lands
were confiscated, and legal courts were replaced with their Indigenous
customs and laws, and changes to the familial unit with women enter-
ing education. The growing radical movements bolstered by the Stalinist
and socialist movement thereafter forced further drastic reforms on the
nation. The American government visibly nervous of this shift in power
by the Russians, created a deliberately armed, financed coalition against
the Afghan Soar Revolution in 1978. Billions of dollars were spent by
the American government so that they could defeat the positionality of
Russia in Afghanistan. The fall of Kabul, however, represented a victory
to Islamic fundamentalism, who had yearned for the nostalgic past and
had felt oppressed by the increased reforms, shifts in land and customs.
The very nature of the rise of the Taliban, funded and supported histor-
ically by the American government, is now mostly lost in the contempo-
rary political discourse surrounding the terrorist activities of the Taliban
in Afghanistan. Yet, the understanding of the historical turmoil of this
nation highlights the strife and trauma of the people, commonly invad-
ed, conquered and oppressed from multiple regimes and multiple points
of history. This (briefly and crudely portrayed) example is just a glimpse
of what is lacking when students are asked to learn about history. Rather
than simply having an understanding that the Taliban are ‘bad’ people,
a more robust understanding of the history may account for the move
toward more extremist stances given the historical legacy that has been
largely unresolved, contested, and volatile.
If our contemporary understanding of a particular country such as
Afghanistan is devoid of the broader historical, political and religious con-
text that gives rise to extremist fundamentalism, then this creates a car-
icature of the complexity and spectrum of injustice that has occurred to
redress the issue. Such a lack of understanding of how the Afghan people
and its tribes and sub-tribes have battled and struggled, been manipulated
and exploited, for the bigger positional global power by major countries,
exacerbates the historical narrative held by extremist groups to propagate
42
understanding of the rise of radicalized groups in Afghanistan. For in-
stance, the tribes and sub-tribes fought for territory in the early eight-
eenth century. The colonization of Europe in the 1800s had yet another
element of territorial strife, with Britain increasing its world dominance
and forcible entry into Afghanistan creating an artificial an unnatural
boundary line – the Durand line – dividing the people of Afghanistan
until 1919. The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia also affected the nature
of the reforms and Afghan people, which raised hopes of removing the
British imperialism that it felt. The ideals of the socialist attempt at world
revolution would affect the Afghan tribes and their way of life. Lands
were confiscated, and legal courts were replaced with their Indigenous
customs and laws, and changes to the familial unit with women enter-
ing education. The growing radical movements bolstered by the Stalinist
and socialist movement thereafter forced further drastic reforms on the
nation. The American government visibly nervous of this shift in power
by the Russians, created a deliberately armed, financed coalition against
the Afghan Soar Revolution in 1978. Billions of dollars were spent by
the American government so that they could defeat the positionality of
Russia in Afghanistan. The fall of Kabul, however, represented a victory
to Islamic fundamentalism, who had yearned for the nostalgic past and
had felt oppressed by the increased reforms, shifts in land and customs.
The very nature of the rise of the Taliban, funded and supported histor-
ically by the American government, is now mostly lost in the contempo-
rary political discourse surrounding the terrorist activities of the Taliban
in Afghanistan. Yet, the understanding of the historical turmoil of this
nation highlights the strife and trauma of the people, commonly invad-
ed, conquered and oppressed from multiple regimes and multiple points
of history. This (briefly and crudely portrayed) example is just a glimpse
of what is lacking when students are asked to learn about history. Rather
than simply having an understanding that the Taliban are ‘bad’ people,
a more robust understanding of the history may account for the move
toward more extremist stances given the historical legacy that has been
largely unresolved, contested, and volatile.
If our contemporary understanding of a particular country such as
Afghanistan is devoid of the broader historical, political and religious con-
text that gives rise to extremist fundamentalism, then this creates a car-
icature of the complexity and spectrum of injustice that has occurred to
redress the issue. Such a lack of understanding of how the Afghan people
and its tribes and sub-tribes have battled and struggled, been manipulated
and exploited, for the bigger positional global power by major countries,
exacerbates the historical narrative held by extremist groups to propagate
42
