Researcher Ali Asghar: PKS's Mistake Hidayat Nur Wahid Believes The Taliban Has Changed To Respect Women's Rights!

JAKARTA - Researcher from the Center for National Security Studies (Puskamnas) of Bhayangkara University, Greater Jakarta, Ali Asghar, spoke up following the views expressed by the Deputy Chair of the PKS Syuro Council, Hidayat Nur Wahid (HNW).

HNW called on the Indonesian government to support the Taliban's current rule in Afghanistan. This is because the Taliban have declared several things, such as claiming that they will respect the rights of women and children, will not tolerate acts of terrorism, and implement a moderate government.

"Responding to HNW, believing that the Taliban will change is a big mistake! Why is it that the Taliban or Neo Taliban that we see today are more pragmatic? But in terms of ideology, nothing has changed".

"Is the evidence still the same? It must be remembered that shortly after the control of the Taliban, what we saw in the news was the discriminatory attitude towards female workers, then several people were shot, the violence against civilians continued", said Ali when contacted by VOI, Monday, August 23 evening.

Ali believes, ideologically, nothing has changed from the Taliban. For example in religious moderation, freedom of opinion, or civil rights. In politics, however, the Taliban has taken a more pragmatic stance.

This is evidenced by the statements of several Taliban elites who will open cooperation with the governments of other countries, such as China or Russia. For Ali, this is interesting because it concerns the geopolitics of the Taliban in the future.

The reason is, the Taliban since the 70s have been fully supported by the Saudi Arabian government because they have similarities in Wahhabism. While China is a country with a different power bloc from Saudi Arabia.

"Well, this is dancing, we can see what the ending will be", said Ali.

Implications of the Taliban's Victory in Indonesia

The Taliban victory in Afghanistan will have implications for Indonesia today. According to Ali, this can be used by terror groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda as framing.

"It can be used as a propaganda narrative by groups supporting ISIS or Al-Qaeda. Consciously or not, the Taliban is a movement where jihad grew and developed from Afghanistan", Ali explained.

It is true that ISIS, Al-Qaeda have a different birth embryo from the Taliban in Afghanistan. However, these terror groups have similarities in the ideological field, namely the formalization of Islamic law.

"In Indonesia, the rise of the Taliban can be an inspiration for groups that have been planning the goal of an Islamic state, the formalization of Islamic law. The inspiration for the Taliban has been waiting for 20 years to achieve success", Ali explained.

Responding to HNW's statement, Ali himself was not surprised. Moreover, HNW is a dropout from Saudi Arabia, a country that has been the center of Taliban cooperation so far. Unfortunately, the implication of this statement has a bad effect on the image of the PKS that has been intended to be built so far.

"I don't think it's right, it's not right. PKS is trying to build more open reforms, which are more inclusive. If HNW says that, then it's a collision that it can't accept all groups", said Ali.