EDITORIAL: As of now, nothing could be harder for the Taliban than banning cultivation of poppy, a harvest that is the smaller farmers’ only bread winner. An order issued by the Taliban government on Sunday warns farmers that their poppy crops would be burned and they can be jailed if they proceeded with the poppy harvesting. The order also outlaws transportation, trade, export and import of all types of narcotics, and the drug manufacturing factories in Afghanistan are also strictly banned.
Last August when Taliban took over Afghanistan was the world’s largest producer of opium as it produced more than 7,500 tons of opium, nearly 80 percent in Helmand and Nangarhar, the home to hardcore Taliban. Since income generated from an acre of poppy is about 10 times more than any other crop, its cultivation was the small farmers’ best bet. Seemingly, the Taliban leadership is returning to its first stint in power, when opium production was brought down from about 4,900 tons to 185 tons in two years. But as Taliban government was overthrown in 2001, the opium production significantly enhanced during the reigns of NATO-propelled governments.
Among the main consumers of heroin, a concentrated form of opium, were foreign troops, and the cultivation of poppy was encouraged by elements who held official positions, some of them being instrumental for export of the narcotic to other countries. Although on the paper Europe is the main importer of illegal opium and its derivatives, the neighbouring India is perhaps the principal consumer of the Afghan drug. A little over 2 percent of Indian population is addicted to drugs. This is three times the global average and the drug seizures are just tip of the iceberg. The “semi-produced stones” consignment from Kandahar intercepted by authorities at the Adani ports-managed Mundra port last September was three tons of heroin worth about Rs 30,000 crores. The consignment had arrived via Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
Irrespective of what the international community thinks of the Taliban rulers and their latest moves to revive the socio-cultural ambience that prevailed during their first stint in power the Kabul’s decision to ban poppy cultivation must receive support — as it is as much in the interest of the Afghans as it is of the world at large. Given stiff resistance the regime is expected to face, the Taliban regime should not be forced to lift the ban on poppy cultivation. The world can help the small farmers in a number of ways, the one that is likely to receive their ready cooperation is that they are compensated by fixing higher prices of other crops they grow instead of poppy. Without offering them a matching financial package it would be difficult to enforce the ban, and this is something that the Taliban government cannot do on its own.
The second front on which the international community should work is the drug supply chain outside Afghanistan. According to a UN report, those who manage the drug supply chains make much more than their agents in Afghanistan and its neighbouring countries, particularly Pakistan and Iran. The demand determines the quantity of supply. So, the countries that constitute the ultimate destination of Afghan heroin should tighten their borders, snap the supply lines and stiffen laws against use of narcotics.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022