Pakistanis shocked there are no 'good Taliban' after all
Pakistanis -- including military establishment, political pundits, and trolls alike -- have long maintained some Taliban are bad while the others are good.
NOT IN ISLAMABAD (02.11.2025) — In a stunning turn of events that absolutely no one could have predicted except everyone who’s ever met the Taliban, Pakistanis are reportedly shocked, dismayed, and mildly betrayed to discover that there were, in fact, no “good Taliban” after all.
For decades, Pakistan had proudly distinguished between two Taliban species:
The Good Taliban (Afghan edition) — the rugged freedom fighters bravely “resisting Western imperialism” while maintaining suspiciously close contact with Rawalpindi; and
The Bad Taliban (TTP edition) — the ungrateful variety that preferred blowing up Pakistani cities instead of American convoys.
Whether political pundits on mainstream media, pro-ISI trolls, or country’s defence minister Khawaja Asif, all were convinced the Taliban are actually good people fighting for the good cause… it’s only the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ones that deviated and turned on Pakistan instead.
But, the unthinkable has happened. Pakistan’s worst nightmare has happened. The Afghan Taliban (TTA) are acting more and more like a state — an authoritarian Islam-o-fascist state but a state nevertheless. A state that is not willing to use all resources at its disposal for its own interests. Yes, that also means cozying up to Pakistan’s archrival India and using fringe elements like the TTP to keep Pakistan at bay.
It obviously wasn’t acceptable to the ones who once created — with help from the mighty US — trained, and backed them. And thus began the military actions. Devastating airstrikes by Pakistan deep into Afghan territory and Afghanistan’s response along the border outposts of the Pakistan army. All this while the Foreign Minister of Afghanistan was in India receiving a warm welcome and making deals, a sight no one thought they’s see in their lifetime — Hindutva-induced hypernationalist Indian government making nice with Islamist Taliban. It was at that point it occured to Pakistani ultra-nationalists and pro-military pundits, that there are in fact no good Taliban after all.
The heated-up rhetoric was soon topped by the nationalist trolls doubling-down on their “namak haram” jibes at Afghan refugees. At this point, every Afghan was a fair target for them. Spewing slurs for not being “grateful” for receiving shelter in Pakistan. The kind of anti-immigrant rhetoric that’s come out of Pakistan in the recent times would be a solid competition for the western far-right and anti-immigrant segments. I mean imagine if Pakistanis were denied basic dignity in the UK, for example, where they’d be treated as nomads despite living their for decades and denied the right of settlement or citizenship. In fact they’d be kicked out on a day’s notice. It’d be interesting to see how grateful they then would be towards the UK.
Whether Pakistanis will learn from their actions remains to be seen. As it stands today, Pakistanis are now cognizant of the fact that there are no “good Taliban” after all.