More than year since the fall of Kabul and return of the Taliban in August 2021, the world appears to have moved on from Afghanistan. In this episode of Spotlight South Asia, former Afghanistan education minister Mirwais Balkhi details the scale of the humanitarian crisis gripping the country in conversation with host Sushant Singh.
Balkhi, who is also diplomat and academician who has studied at India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, unpacks the complete collapse of the country in painful detail – starvation and an economic disaster. A land with no government, a country with no institution, he says.
Balkhi talks of the huge losses to the sector with private schools being replaced by religious madrassas and the Taliban’s ideological curriculum being imposed.
Balkhi notes how the citizens of Afghanistan have been let down by the international community as well as allies and friendly nations at their darkest hour. He also talks of how the Taliban have indeed changed but not in the way one would imagine. On ties with India, Balkhi says that New Delhi has shifted its policy completely from a strategic friendship to a tactical friendship.
Follow the work of the Centre for Policy Research on Twitter or visit www.cprindia.org. You can listen to all the episodes of CPR’s India Speak podcasts here.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!