The Taliban's strength is the religion's opium and opium cultivation

The Taliban's biggest hoax is that it claims to be an organization of strict Muslims on the one hand, wants to rule according to Islamic Sharia law, but on the other hand is involved in the drug trade and earns Rs 1,500 to Rs 200 crore a year.

The Taliban have re-emerged in Afghanistan, despite the onslaught of superpowers such as the United States. The Taliban's hidden economic strength is also behind the fact that it took only a few hours to conquer Kabul. The Taliban spend a lot of money on weapons training by engaging young people in jihad by misinterpreting Islam. A source of income also needs to be strong to spend money like water. Hundreds of Taliban supporters may have been poor, but their leaders are not poor at all. The Taliban have laid the foundations of power by building a huge economic network. In 2012, the Taliban in Afghanistan was included in a list of the world's top five richest terrorist organizations by Forbes Magazine. With the support and help of some Arab countries, the hardline Taliban organization uses religion as its opium to achieve its goals and its other strong weapon is the cultivation of opium. Opium contains 17% morphine, which is processed into heroin. Milk-like liquid is extracted by slitting the raw fruit (doda) of opium. This liquid that dries and thickens is called opium.

Afghanistan is the largest exporter of opium in the world. Billions of dollars worth of opium is harvested each year, accounting for about 70 percent of the world's total needs. Opium cultivation has been under Taliban control for years and has become its biggest economic force. It also levies money to tax the opium business. According to one source, opium is cultivated in an area of ​​80,000 hectares in Afghanistan. The Taliban levy a hefty tax of 10 per cent on opium farmers. This tax is also levied when opium is turned into heroin. This whole system has been set up on the basis of which 300 to 400 million dollars (1500 to 200 crore) rupees are earned annually. In a country where more than 3 million refugees are forced to live a nomadic life, instead of producing grains like wheat and rice, the country is engrossed in drug cultivation. Since farmers have gone blind in the drug trade, foodgrains sometimes have to be borrowed from a country like Pakistan. Grain farmers have to walk to the market to sell their produce, there is no guarantee that the price will be good while the price of opium will be fixed by the traders themselves. Afghanistan is not only a hub of Islamic terrorism but also a hub of narco-terrorism for the world. Taliban supporters, devastated by the protracted war, are plowing into opium production. Opium cultivation in Afghanistan is becoming as popular as the production of dryfoot. Opium production in Afghanistan increased by 3% during the peak of lockdown and transition to corona. Corrupt officials, tribal chiefs are involved in this business. The Taliban is developing a drug called Crystal Meth which is very popular among the youth. These drugs are made from a substance called aphrodisiac. There are large centers for the cultivation of dogs in southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces in eastern Afghanistan. Due to good weather conditions for opium cultivation, 13 out of 6 provinces of Afghanistan produce good opium.

According to the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), opium production in Afghanistan has peaked in the last three years. In 2016, 800 tonnes of opium worth ૪ 1.6 billion were produced. Afghanistan's opium goes to all corners of the world, including Africa, Europe, Canada, Russia and Asia, excluding the United States. Mexico and Colombia supply opium to the United States. Opium products and raw materials are transported from Afghanistan to the southwest coast of Pakistan and from there to Mozambique via small boats. The Taliban and Pakistan's spy agency ISI have a long-standing nexus. ISI also conspires to harass India through narco-terrorism. Pakistan can spread black business from the Iranian port to Mumbai, and via Pakistan to border provinces like Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, and Kutch in Gujarat. The Rs 200 crore worth of drugs seized in Delhi in July were linked to Afghanistan. A U.S. military report states that up to 70 percent of the Taliban's income comes from opium and heroin. Opium cultivation in Afghanistan has tripled in the last 20 years, despite US and allied military outposts since 2001. The U.S. military has carried out several airstrikes to destroy the Taliban's lifeline opium trade. More specifically targeted laboratory locations for converting opium into heroin but with no success.

Although the Taliban's biggest hoax is that it considers itself an organization of strict Muslims, the regime speaks of Islamic Sharia law in the regime. He wants to rule accordingly but on the other hand he is openly engaged in drug business which is against Islam. Pakistan, known for its Islamist rulings, is known for its facilitative stance, but Afghanistan's neighbor Iran has a strict punishment for drug trafficking. Smuggling of narcotics in Saudi Arabia is punishable by up to death. Caught with alcohol or drugs is punishable by imprisonment in Malaysia. There is provision for the death penalty depending on the severity of the crime. Apart from the law, no Arab country supports the black market of drugs on the basis of religious beliefs, but the Taliban, which enjoins women to wear the burqa in the name of Sharia, has no objection to the production and sale of drugs because it provides money. Even in the presence of NATO forces, including the US, the Taliban have quietly continued their illegal business. Pro-Taliban extremists argue that opium addicts are Western infidels and that the Taliban only produce them, although Taliban survivors forget that drug addiction is on the rise among Afghanistan's youth.

In addition to Dougs, illegal mining activity in Afghanistan is another major source of income for the Taliban. The value of the mineral sector in Afghanistan is estimated at ૧ 1 billion. Most of the mining is illegal, with the Taliban having a good foothold. The Taliban earns Rs 1,200 crore from mining across the country. A follow-up report by the Afghan government in 2013 estimated that Kabul's mineral wealth, including iron ore, copper, lithium, cobalt and fossils, was worth ૩ 3 trillion. Lithium is increasingly being used in batteries for electric cars, smartphones and laptops. The Taliban is a very rich organization, but the economic situation in Afghanistan is not good. In the current scenario, the US has frozen ડો 4.5 billion in funds and assets deposited by the central bank. The International Monetary Fund has also taken care that the SDR and other economic resources do not fall into the hands of the Taliban. The Taliban, which has been rocked by the illicit trade in opium and mining, is not going to collapse unless a country helps it with cash. The only way for the Taliban to generate revenue due to international sanctions is to collect haphazard taxes. The Taliban could impose a trade tax on the border. If there is a boom in hawala business, tax can also be levied from it. With a GDP of ૯ 17.5 billion, Afghanistan's growth rate has been slow for some time. 7% of Afghanistan's government budget comes from international donors. These donors will no longer come forward to help. Bringing the country's economy back on track amid economic sanctions for the Taliban, which is shifting power from illicit income from opium and mineral activity, would be like chewing iron.

- Hasmukh Gajjar