The Afghan nation, from a child
to an old man have been suffering for ages. The children born during the
beginning of the war have now become grandparents themselves. Young children are
fearful of a possible eruption of civil war post-withdrawal of American forces.
I have been giving my point of
view through both electronic and printed media on the ground realities in
Afghanistan. It is a fact that the suffering of our economy today can be
attributed to the war in Afghanistan which has been depleting our resources both
directly and indirectly. We are victims of the Afghan-USSR war followed by the
growth of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and Daish which have been eroding our system.
Hence peace in Afghanistan means peace in Pakistan.
As of now, the Taliban control 52
percent of the territory of Afghanistan as they have full control over 27
districts. The remaining 297 districts are partly controlled by both the
government and Taliban.
The leadership council of the
Taliban, known as the Rahbari Shura, makes decisions for all “political and
military affairs” of the Emirate. It is currently led by Mawlawi Haibatullah
Akhundzada who is a new Amir in place of Mullah Umer. Haibattullah (is
supported by his 3 main deputies, currently Mullah Muhammad Yaqoub, Mullah
Omar’s son, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar; and Sirajuddin Haqqani who is also
acting head of the Haqqani Network and supervises the insurgency in
Afghanistan; he is the most powerful like his father Mulana Jalaluddin Haqqani.
The Taliban’s initiative to
include Afghanistan’s ethnic minorities in the new coalition emerging in Kabul
has been viewed favourably by Tehran and it can be clearly seen that the ice is
melting between the two-arch rivals. Moreover, since the beginning of peace
talks with the United States, several top Taliban leaders from the negotiating
team have been to Tehran for consultations. It is also reported that Iran’s
special representative on Afghanistan, Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian, has regularly
interacted with the Taliban’s political leaders, as well as other Afghan
political leaders, including Salahuddin Rabbani, the head of Afghanistan’s
Jamiat-e Islami, and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, the chief of the Islamic Dawah
organisation and former head of Islami Ittehad (Mujahideen Group).
These groups are all around Kabul
and the battle for takeover can be triggered at any time. These factions are
within the radius 20 to 25 kilometres and Kabul stands encircled today,
creating fearful nights for the general public.
The Taliban assert their
authority through checkpoints along key roads across the whole country. The
Taliban members stop every passing car and passenger and question them,
searching for people linked to the government and if they find any, they hand
them over to their courts which is creating unrest. The Taliban believe victory
is theirs and they feel they have won the war against America and are confident
that they will have control over the capital within the next few months.
It is worth noticing that since the past year, the Taliban have also stopped attacks on international forces following the signing of the withdrawal agreement with the US, but they are consistently fighting the Afghan government. The question arises as to what mind has America made as the last strategy and it is to be seen which side the Americans will throw their weight behind; the Taliban or Ghani plus the Northern Alliance.
The US does not need any bases in
Pakistan or Afghanistan. The US needs bay permission for warships to cover the
range for their cruise missiles to any target in Afghanistan which will once
again bring Afghanistan under fire. The anti-American group will once again
start their terrorist activities and we will be back to square one once again.
Let us presume that Kabul falls
in the hands of the Taliban, that too with the consent of the US and other
allies, then Pakistan will have to plan its strategy. It is no more a secret
that Indian influence has crept in Afghanistan and it is giving $1 billion
annually for its lobbies to help them keep a strong foothold. In addition,
senior leaders of the Northern Alliance are regularly visiting India to seek
guidance from the Modi government.
As far as Pakistan is concerned,
a power-sharing arrangement would be beneficial in Afghanistan for every
stakeholder. Pakistan cannot afford to have a pro-Indian, single-faction government.
Pakistan needs to make an effort
before the fall of Kabul to avoid the complete control of government in the
hands of this faction as the national government can be neutral to bring peace
back to Afghanistan and keep better relations with its neighbours. I feel that
passing a resolution or any religious approach by any country will be no more
effective to convince the factions in Afghanistan for peace.
Pakistan is the most critical
regional player when it comes to ending the war in Afghanistan and the role of
COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajawa has been appreciated by all stakeholders including
the US. The Taliban will not take any pressure from any stakeholder and their
violence will increase in Afghanistan with every passing day.
We need to see how now the US
adopts its further policy with reference to Afghanistan. We must be clear in
our minds that the US wants to have a strategic presence in this region and it
can go to any extent to achieve its policy line. We need to see if the US wants
Pakistan as a strategic partner to bring peace or wants to repeat the policy of
acquiring logistic support via ground or via sea. According to sources, US
warships are already in the gulf near Pakistan since it already has permission
from Gen Musharraf to use Pak airspace.
I once again repeat my
suggestions with some additions to bring long-term peace after the withdrawal
of US forces:
The US needs to consider ensuring
a one-to-one meeting of President Ashraf Ghani and Sirajuddin Haqqani with the
pre-agreed future roadmap for the sake Afghan nation. The member states must
ask the UN to deploy a peacekeeping mission to enforce peace. The US must
consider working to establish an interim government in Afghanistan representing
all factions and the present government and others. There should be an
undertaking from the Taliban/others that they will not dismantle female schools
and there should be a general amnesty. Let the interim government be there for
one year and it should be headed by a mutually agreed non-controversial leader
equally respected and having a good working relationship with all stakeholders.
India must be kept away from this withdrawal strategy to avoid its negative role. Pakistan, China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia may be taken on board as observers of peace. Sufficient rehabilitation funding should be announced for the rebuilding of basic infrastructure and educational institutions that have been destroyed in years of violence and war. The UN must pass a resolution prohibiting certain actions by the Taliban-led coalition government such as bombing, harassment, ethnic killing and violence against women etc.
My final advice for the American
administration is to withdraw from Afghanistan but work out a withdrawal plan
to block the internal tribal war before actually leaving Afghanistan.
I firmly believe that a common
strategy adopted by the US and Pakistan can bring long term peace. Crushing the
Afghan Taliban will bring destruction and this will not save the capital. It is
likely that the US will continue to ask Pakistan to do more again while keeping
India as its preferred nation. The US needs to show more sincerity towards
Pakistan in view of the past sacrifices of Pakistan in this war of terror. I
hope President Joe Biden will hear the cries of Afghan children for peace.
The Article was published in The Nation on June 18, 2021, link to the article: https://nation.com.pk/18-Jun-2021/beseeching-president-joe-biden-for-peace
No comments:
Post a Comment