Eyebrows Raised As Female Diplomat Represents Taliban at Afghan Embassy in India

Zakia Wardak and Mohammad Ebrahim Khel, the former consuls of the Afghan government in Mumbai and Hyderabad of India, officially reopened the Afghan embassy in Delhi on Thursday, in cooperation with the Taliban's foreign ministry.

The issue has been hot topic firstly because there have been two separate contradicting official statements being released- one from the former consuls and the other from the Taliban government, about its current status.

Secondly and the issue which has garnered more attention now, is the presence of a female diplomat who is now allegedly representing the Taliban government in India. Zakia Wardak is currently working along the orders of the Taliban and is involved in the reopening of the Afghan embassy in India.

The presence of this pro-Taliban female diplomat comes at a time when the Taliban has closed the doors of schools to girls above the sixth grade, opposes women's education and their participation in politics, and has compelled millions of Afghan women to remain at home.

Many are of the opinion that history is repeating itself when it comes to the case of Zakia Wardak supporting the Taliban.

A similar situation had arisen in August 1997 at the Afghan embassy in Washington when the Taliban had overthrown the Mujahideen government led by Burhanuddin Rabbani in Kabul and occupied 23 provinces of Afghanistan. During this period, two senior Afghan diplomats in Washington disagreed over how to represent the war-torn country.

Yar Mohammad Mohabbat, the former chargé d'affaires of the Afghan embassy in Washington, wanted to represent Burhanuddin Rabbani's government, which was still the legitimate and UN-approved government in Afghanistan. However, his deputy, Sirajuddin Wardak, opted to become the diplomat of the Taliban administration in Washington.

The two sides could not resolve numerous disputes and it brought the issue of Afghanistan's diplomatic representation to the attention of the American government.

According to the Washington Post, James Rubin, spokesperson for the US State Department at the time, announced that the US administration would temporarily close the Afghan embassy in Washington because the two diplomats could not reach an agreement on the representation of their country.

The embassy closure lasted till the Taliban government was overthrown and the establishment of the post-Taliban government led by Hamid Karzai.

The primary dispute between Afghan diplomats was regarding the flag. Mohabbat wanted to keep the flag of Rabbani's government in the embassy, but Wardak wanted to raise the white flag of the Taliban in Washington.

Sirajuddin Wardak was the husband of Zakia Wardak, who has now decided to become the first female diplomat working with the Taliban. The US government had later arrested Wardak and according to some reports, they tortured him. Zakia Wardak's husband later died in a traffic accident in 2011.

Zakia herself is an American citizen who returned to Afghanistan in 2009. Hailing from a family with a history of involvement in jihad against the Soviet Union, her father, General Abdul Ali Khan Wardak, fought in the war against the former Soviet Union. Zakia Wardak studied at Kabul Polytechnic University and has a master's degree in architecture. Following her return to Kabul, she had been engaged in various projects alongside her husband, taking advantage of the growing presence of non-governmental organisations.

Zakia Wardak then established a construction company and secured projects from the US military. With increased financial resources, she became interested in politics, ultimately participating in the parliamentary elections of 2018.

This attempt was unsuccessful and Wardak could not secure a seat in the House of Representatives. However, she managed to secure connections with senior government officials in Afghanistan. One of her daughters became a colleague of Hanif Atmar, the National Security Advisor, at the time. Later, Atmar helped Wardak get appointed as the consul general of Afghanistan to Mumbai, India.

Now, many allies of Hanif Atmar, the former foreign minister of the Ashraf Ghani government, have also started cooperating with the Taliban administration following the group’s return to power.

Qadir Shah, former NSA spokesperson during Atmar’s tenure as the National Security Advisor, entered into a similar conflict with Farid Mamundzay, the former Afghan ambassador to India, before Zakia Wardak. However, he could not take control of the embassy.

Asif Rahimi, the ambassador of the former government of Afghanistan in the Netherlands, also publicly announced that he is interacting with the Taliban. Several ambassadors who had connections with Atmar have also pledged allegiance to the Taliban. However, Wardak is the first woman who is publicly interacting with the Taliban.

It remains unclear how the Taliban, known for its opposition against women in politics, accepted Zakia Wardak to represent the group in India. The Indian government has not clarified how they decided to accept representatives from the Taliban either.

This development occurred following the departure of Farid Mamundzay, the Afghan ambassador to India, and the subsequent handover of the embassy to the Indian government. So far, the Taliban administration has been able to align many former officials of the previous government with themselves. This includes those individuals had previously opposed the Taliban's view.

However, it is important to note that Mamundzay, who has not agreed to hand over the Afghan embassy to the Taliban, said that India continuously encouraged the diplomats of the former government to interact with the group.

He said that Delhi supports those who have direct connections with the Taliban and Wardak is one of them. He added that many diplomats of the former government left India and those who remain in the country, support the Taliban and are in contact with the foreign ministry of the group.

India's foreign ministry declined to comment on Mamundzay's claim.

The motive behind India's rapprochement with the Taliban is unclear, but it appears that Delhi is looking for ways to engage with the Taliban to protect its investments in Afghanistan and maintain its influence in the country.

India reopened its embassy in Kabul last year to provide humanitarian aid such as food and medicine. However, consular services, including visa issuance for Afghan citizens, have not resumed.