Civil Resistance in Afghanistan: A Case Study on Human Rights

When the Taliban swept back into Kabul in August 2021, two decades of fragile progress on rights and freedoms unravelled within weeks. The world watched a humanitarian catastrophe unfold, with women and girls bearing the heaviest burden. Yet the story of Afghanistan since 2021 is not only one of loss. It is also a powerful case study in how ordinary people, organised through civil society, continue to resist injustice even when the state itself becomes the source of oppression. This post examines what happened, how Afghan civil society responded, and what it reveals about the role of civil society in defending human rights during a crisis.

How the 2021 takeover triggered a human rights crisis 🔗

The Taliban first ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and were notorious for severe abuses against women. Their return in 2021 revived those memories almost overnight. The group issued dozens of decrees that systematically dismantled the rights Afghan women had gained over twenty years.

The numbers tell the story starkly. Before the takeover, around 3.5 million girls were enrolled in schools, and women made up about 22 per cent of the workforce in sectors like healthcare, education, and civil services. After 2021, girls were barred from secondary and higher education, and women were pushed out of most public sector jobs. The United Nations has called it the world’s most severe women’s rights crisis, with directives stripping women of their rights to education, work, freedom of movement, and participation in public life.

This repression has deepened a wider humanitarian emergency. According to UN reporting, roughly 21.9 million people, nearly 45 per cent of the population, need humanitarian assistance, a crisis worsened by aid cuts, drought, and the mass return of refugees. The exclusion of women has direct consequences here too. The shortage of female healthcare workers, for instance, restricts women’s access to medical care, turning gender discrimination into a public health failure.

Why this is called a “tragedy” of human rights 🔗

Afghanistan has signed multiple international human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). As the de facto authority, the Taliban are obliged to observe these existing obligations, yet they openly violate them. The tragedy lies in this gap between formal legal commitments and lived reality. Rights that exist on paper mean little when the institution meant to protect them becomes their chief violator. Increasingly, activists and human rights bodies describe this institutionalised exclusion as gender apartheid, and there are growing international calls to recognise it as a crime under international law.

What is civil society and why does it matter here? 🔗

Civil society is often called the “third sector” of society, distinct from both government and business. It is made up of organisations and groups that operate independently of state control, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs), charities, community groups, professional associations, and advocacy networks. These groups are voluntary and oriented toward a shared public purpose.

What makes civil society so important for human rights is the set of functions it performs. As the Brookings Institution notes, civil society organisations monitor government, hold it accountable, engage in advocacy, deliver services, and defend citizen rights. The UN human rights office puts it directly: a dynamic and independent civil society is a key element in securing sustainable human rights protection everywhere in the world.

This framing matters for the Afghan case. When a state collapses or turns repressive, civil society often becomes the last line of defence for ordinary people. It steps in to document abuses, provide services the state withholds, and keep alive the demand for rights that the government wants silenced.

Understanding civil resistance 🔗

Closely linked to civil society is the idea of civil resistance. This is a form of political action that relies on nonviolent methods by ordinary people to challenge a power, policy, or regime. Its tactics include demonstrations, petitions, strikes, boycotts, and the creation of parallel institutions. For an Indian reader, the concept is immediately familiar. Mahatma Gandhi led one of the first documented civil resistance campaigns against British rule, using civil disobedience, marches, and parallel institutions, the very same logic now visible in Afghanistan’s underground schools and street protests.

Civil resistance is historically tied to the advancement of human rights and democracy. One striking finding is that between 1966 and 1999, nonviolent civic resistance played a critical role in fifty of sixty-seven transitions away from authoritarian rule. This is why what Afghan women are doing is not a footnote. It is a continuation of a long global tradition of unarmed people confronting armed power.

Afghan civil society fights back 🔗

Despite extreme danger, Afghan civil society has refused to disappear. Within weeks of the takeover, women had taken to the forefront of protests, demonstrating against the exclusion of women from the new caretaker government. These early protests set the tone for years of resistance that followed.

The repression has been brutal. The Taliban have categorised civic space as “closed,” and human rights defenders have been harassed, intimidated, and arbitrarily detained. Even so, activists have continued. One 74-year-old activist reportedly walked directly into the Taliban’s presidential palace to demand that girls be allowed back into schools. Women have repeatedly held demonstrations demanding education, work, justice, and peace, despite imprisonments and abductions.

The many forms of women-led resistance 🔗

What is remarkable is how creative and decentralised this resistance has become. Because open protest invites violent reprisal, Afghan women have adapted. As the Atlantic Council documents, women-led resistance now takes many forms. Some publish anonymous videos, others run underground schools, and many engage in grassroots organising to resist the erasure of women from public life. Activists also document human rights violations and build solidarity networks across the country and the diaspora.

Protests have spread beyond Kabul to cities including Jalalabad, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, and Bamiyan. The slogans, often centred on “work, bread, and justice,” capture demands that are both economic and political. Crucially, many women protesters frame their struggle as continuing until an inclusive and accountable government is established, showing that this is not merely reactive anger but a sustained political vision.

Engaging the regime and the world 🔗

Civil resistance is not only confrontation. It also involves dialogue and advocacy. Activists have sought to engage Taliban authorities directly to argue for women’s rights, often invoking religious and ethical arguments to challenge the bans. At the same time, they appeal outward to the international community for solidarity and pressure. Human Rights Watch has argued that Afghan women putting their lives on the line deserve the international community’s full solidarity in their struggle. This dual strategy, pressing the regime from within while mobilising attention from outside, is a textbook example of how civil society operates under repression.

The role of international support, including India 🔗

Civil resistance inside a country rarely succeeds in isolation. It depends on the wider international community for funding, attention, and humanitarian relief that keeps populations alive long enough to keep resisting. This is where external actors, including India, enter the picture.

India has walked a careful diplomatic line. It has not formally recognised the Taliban government, yet it has extended significant humanitarian aid. The first consignment of 2,500 metric tonnes of Indian wheat travelled from Attari to Kabul in February 2022, at a time when nearly 23 million Afghans faced extreme hunger. Because Pakistan usually restricts two-way trade, the shipment required a special one-off clearance to pass through the Wagah border crossing on humanitarian grounds.

India’s assistance has been substantial and sustained. Reporting indicates India has supplied tens of thousands of tonnes of wheat along with around 200 tonnes of medical assistance, including medicines, vaccines, and surgical supplies, since August 2021. To bypass the Pakistan route, India later turned to Iran’s Chabahar Port, working in partnership with the UN World Food Programme to distribute wheat internally. India also reopened its embassy in Kabul in June 2022, primarily to oversee aid delivery.

This illustrates a key tension. International actors must address human suffering without legitimising a repressive regime. India and Central Asian partners have used diplomatic forums to call for a truly inclusive political structure that respects the rights of all Afghans, including women and minorities. Humanitarian aid keeps people alive, but it is the combination of relief and sustained political pressure that gives civil resistance room to survive.

What this case teaches us about civil society 🔗

The Afghan experience confirms several core lessons about civil society and human rights. First, civil society functions as a watchdog and a voice when the state fails. With formal institutions captured, it is activists and NGOs who document abuses and keep the truth visible. Second, civil resistance is adaptive. When open protest becomes impossible, resistance moves underground, online, and into the diaspora rather than disappearing. Third, domestic resistance and international support are interdependent. Neither protests nor aid alone is sufficient, but together they sustain the possibility of change.

The tragedy is real and ongoing. Yet the resilience of Afghan civil society, especially its women, demonstrates why this third sector is not a luxury of stable democracies but a lifeline in moments of collapse. As one analysis argues, recognising and supporting the agency of Afghans, particularly women, youth, and civil society actors, must become a strategic pillar of international policy toward the country.

What do you think? If a government itself becomes the main violator of rights, where should the responsibility for protecting citizens ultimately lie, with domestic civil society or with the international community? And how can countries like India offer meaningful humanitarian support without unintentionally legitimising a repressive regime?

References

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