Final answer:
The underlined portion is a metaphor criticizing the Taliban for their oppressive policies towards women, equating these policies to turning girls into 'identical, lifeless dolls,' which symbolizes the suppression of individuality and autonomy.
Step-by-step explanation:
The author wrote the underlined portion as a metaphor that criticizes the Taliban. In literature, a metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn’t true but helps explain an idea or make a comparison. The metaphor of turning girls into 'identical, lifeless dolls' underscores the loss of personal identity and autonomy that the Taliban protocols enforce upon women—stripping them of individuality and reducing them to mere objects, without freedom or rights. This is a criticism of the extreme forms of gender segregation and oppression that have been instituted by the Taliban, such as removing women from public life and enforcing strict dress codes, effectively erasing their presence and participation in society.