Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Government’s Commitment for Peace Talks

The news about the efforts of present Afghan government to start talks with Taliban are still resounding in the media and according to the internal sources, the government has not ceased its endeavor to achieve a break-through in this regard.

As the unity government came into existence, the president expressed his desire to bring Taliban and other anti-state elements on the table of negotiations. Though not accepted by the palace, there were news that government had agreed to give some ministries and other high government posts to Taliban in order to build the trust and persuade them to leave militancy and join hands for the development of the country. However, Taliban had rejected this offer and repeated their old demand that until the exit of all the foreign forces from Afghan soil, they will not become a part of any mechanism that should make them leave their weapons and join the government. Even after this, the government has not become disappointed. Last week’s two important events also indicate the same strategy of government.

First was the visit of some prominent political figures from the neighboring country of Pakistan. In this visit, the influential religious leader of Pakistan, Maulana Fazlur-Rehman and a number of Pashtun elders visited Kabul and held talks with the president and other important members of Afghan government. Maulana Fazlur-Rehman is considered to be an important figure to have good influence among the lines of Taliban as well. He can prove to be an important bridge in breaking a deal between afghan government and Taliban. In the same way, the Pashtun leaders of Pakistan are also considered to be having much influence in the Pashtun-dominated areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan where Taliban and other militant groups are considered to be busy in carrying out their activities. Keeping in mind this important visit, the government has made another serious effort to bring Taliban on the table of talks. 

In the same way, the visit of Taliban leaders from Qatar to China and meeting with the important Chinese officials is also indirectly considered the effort of Afghan government to reach to an agreement with Taliban. In November, Mr. Ghani had requested the intervention of Chinese leaders in starting negotiations with Taliban and bringing them to the table of talks. It is yet unclear to the media as how the talks went in China and if Taliban have agreed to start talks with Afghan government or not.

The sad incident of Peshawar also provided an important opportunity for our government to broker a deal with Taliban. There are reports that Pakistani establishment and its most influential ISI is now ready to go to any extent against Taliban. Afghan government and masses have long been making hue and cry against ISI and Pakistani government to stop supporting Taliban and the incident gave an opportunity for them to revise their policies. If Pakistani and Afghan governments join hands and fight seriously against Taliban, it would leave no option for Taliban to join the process of negotiations with Afghan government.

In past as well, there have been numerous efforts by Afghan government to hold talks with Taliban but they were never fruitful. The High Peace Council was never able to meet its objectives and now it lies as a paralyzed institution, with almost no activities. Ex-President Hamid Karzai also made numerous efforts to win the hearts of Taliban but he was not successful. In this regard, hundreds of Taliban prisoners were released from jails of Afghanistan and dozens more were released from Pakistani prisons on the request of Afghan government. Mr. Karzai had to face harsh criticism on this issue as some of the released Taliban joined the lines of militants and started carrying out fresh attacks against the forces and civilians of our country. However, till his last days in palace, Mr. Karzai was of the view that only solution to the problem of Taliban lies in negotiations.

Although large number of people in our country are against negotiations with Taliban and they ask the government to take strong military action against them but it is on record that military action has failed, even when our forces had full-fledged support of foreign forces against Taliban. There are also reports that there are large numbers of Afghan Taliban who are against the militancy and especially the brutal killing of civilians and with some efforts, they can join the peace process. Once these Taliban are desecrated from Pakistani Taliban, they can turn the things into the favor of the country and people, bringing an end to the decades’ old miseries of Afghan people.

Realizing these facts, our government is making sincere efforts to bring Taliban to the table of negotiations. It would be early to make any guess about the result of these efforts but it should not be forgotten that our innocent people are also used by large number of regional and international powers on the name of Taliban and until and unless we don’t sit with them and listen to their miseries, we would never be able to finish the problem of militancy in the country. It is also needed that government should also work to cut the links between militants and their international godfathers so that such efforts may give tangible and long-lasting results.