Afghan universities ‘in grave danger’ under Taliban

The Taliban had a ‘ Jerusalem ride ‘ into Afghanistan, even more so into Kabul. They could not have been hated so much nor the americans ( and their local wards ) loved so much to have been able to romp so easily into the country after twenty odd years on the kerb The world should give the Taliban not only some credit for self determination and organisational coherence but also a chance to deliver afresh to their people. To willy nilly assume ‘old wine old skin ‘ of them may be anti intellectual . In this regard pundits ( including scholars.. foreign or home grown ) have a particular responsibility in shaping and moving discourses and the letters of their language in directions that will not further muddy the waters or in the absence of a clear need for such, poison the wells between the parts to such degrees one plays deeper into the hands of hardliners on all sides of the punditry, provoking resentments where resentment is exactly the antithesis to any possible progress. Scholars on the ground ( nationals or not ) must be so skilled in their intellectual navigations and throughputs to constantly avoid making ‘the best the enemy of the good ‘. Afghanistan will never be a ‘western cut’.... very unlikely. But not being one is not the same as not being good. Those who would see a ‘good Afghanistan’ only to the extent it is a ‘ good western’ would have been part of the problem not the solution. It is the responsibility of afghan intellectuals to help fashion an Afghanistan that is good, no matter the mould. Basil jide fadipe.