On 8 April, the United Nations Security Council condemned the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan for a whole host of misdemeanours—for continuing its military offensives in the country's north with Ahmad Shah Massoud, for not handing over Osama bin Laden to the United States, for the deteriorating humanitarian situation within the country, for promoting drug cultivation and trafficking, for its "unacceptable" human rights record, and in particular the "continuing grave violations" of the rights of Afghan women and children.
Sitting in New York, the Security Council threatened more sanctions against Kabul, in addition to the freezing of Taliban assets and the embargo on the national airline Ariana, which were imposed in November. The current President of the Council, the Canadian foreign minister, went so far as to call the Taliban a "criminal gang".
If more proof was required to confirm Afghanistan's pariah status beyond the fact that the Taliban government is recognised by all of three countries, this action by the world's most powerful security body was it. Propelled by American displeasure over the refuge provided to bin Laden, who stands accused by the US for the bombing of two of its embassies, the Taliban regime does indeed have an image problem. This problem is intensified by an international media biting at the regime's heels, focussing on the Taliban as representative of 'Islamic fundamentalism'.
And yet, whether the outside world likes it or not, the authority of the Taliban leadership within Afghanistan has for a few years been a fait accompli. The fact is that more than 90 percent of the territory of a country that was exploited by the cold-warriors and ravaged by civil war is firmly under the control of the Taliban mullahs. A modicum of calm and security prevails in the devastated land. However, the religious leadership which has found itself at the helm of affairs of this historically fractious land now faces the daunting task of delivering 'governance' whereas till now their focus has been military victory and internal security.