Freedom, men’s basic right, is violated flagrantly. Women’s heads are banged on the wall and their dignities are disrespected, men are abducted and their bodies are riddled with bullet and children fell victim to suicide bombings on the way to school. One pursues his interests at the cost of others’ life and dignity. Isn’t it rightly said that “man is man’s wolf”?

I do agree with Hobbes who believed that wickedness runs in man’s blood. The macabre story of the sufferers will fill you with strong disgust. Our freedoms are curtailed to a large extent on the grounds of sex, color, race and belief. For instance, you will be in cultural chains for being female, your life will be in great jeopardy for belonging to a minority ethnic group and your blood will be of no value for nurturing particular beliefs such as disagreeing with the radical’s fundamental ideology.

Jean Jacques Rousseau, a French politician and philosopher, has rightly said that “man is born free, everywhere he is in chains”. Since we, the human beings, are born free, we have to break the chains of slavery and do not yield to oppression or oppressors. I do appreciate the militia fighters who have been enlisted to battle the Taliban militants near the northern city of Kunduz. As the Taliban militants extended their realm of cruelty and conflagration, the local residents deemed it a moral obligation to fight against the Taliban’s guerilla. Playing the role of a neutral onlooker in such critical situation will put one’s humanity under question. At least we have to raise our voice and eyebrows about violation of freedom based on discriminations and cruelties.

If we further politicize freedom and view the Talibanic ideology in this regard, the Taliban were utterly against this discourse. Their closed frames of mind were once put into practice in Afghanistan which led to innumerous challenges. Schooling and social activities were ban for females and males were supposed to dress up and wear beard as the Taliban militants. Transcending their stereotypes was tantamount to perishing your own life.

Since the maxim of “live and let live” is totally meaningless in the Taliban’s mindset, let’s put it away and talk about the practical realities being practiced across the country. The hackneyed phrases on newspapers’ headlines about violation of the individuals’ freedoms reflect the bitter facts going on in our community.

It is an incontrovertible fact that man is born with a set of inherent rights, especially “the rights to life, liberty and estate”. These natural rights are inalienable and can be curtailed only on the basis of law. However, since man is deemed man’s wolf, he lacerates his fellows fiercely and sucks their blood to the last drops. People are hurt mentally, physically and emotionally while walking on streets, commuting to workplaces or traveling to cities.

A member of parliament, Ramazan Bashardoost, quoted a man that two of his vehicles were robbed and her daughter was raped by unknown men two months ago; however no considerable action is yet taken by the responsible sources. Such stories are rampant in the society. The children are abducted and their families have to pay the ransom without the officials’ involvement. As a result, a 10-year-old child was abducted about four months ago by unknown gunmen in Helmand province. His father paid Afghani 3 million for his release.

Some experts believe that the Mafia is widely involved in the cloak-and-dagger operations – especially in the abductions and mysterious deaths. There are two main reasons behind their criminal acts.

The first reason is that members of the Mafia along with the Taliban militants, who gain great advantages from narcotic cultivation, intend to divert the government’s attention and energy from poppy eradication campaigns. Afghanistan produces some 90 per cent of the world’s illicit opiates. Helmand province, in the south, remains the country’s major opium cultivating area, followed by Kandahar, Farah and Nangarhar. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), opium cultivation and production in Afghanistan reached record levels with the former increasing seven per cent to 224,000 hectares in 2014, and production levels potentially climbing as much as 17 per cent.

At the Vienna launch of the report, UNODC Executive-Director, Yury Fedotov, warned that Afghanistan’s narcotics problem remains a major global challenge and shared responsibility.

“The illicit opium economy and related criminality and corruption continue to undermine security, the rule of law, health and development in the region and beyond,” he added.

The second reason is that they seek to gain financial supports in any possible ways including abduction, land grabbing, threats, etc. Therefore, they are widely involved in public disorders and threatening people’s life and freedoms. To put it succinctly, their negative role in trampling upon people’s rights – especially their rights to freedom – is highly salient. So, they are the real wolves who cherish wild characters and have to be the first to be defeated.

Ill-fatedly, the role of Mafia is undervalued in Afghanistan and there is no particular strategy for their eradication. I believe that their role is not less than terrorists. Since terrorism and drug trafficking are deemed global threats, the international community is the first to counter these challenges. 

In short, the violation of men’s freedom in the society outrages the public’s conscience and this trend must be stopped in

any possible way.