The checkered past reveals the fact that Afghanistan has been the hotbed of different ideologies. Historical war and peace originate in political and social attitudes – the current instability proves the very issue. The mercenary militants fight to wreck havoc on the nation but our soldiers fight to protect the nation.
The destructive and constructive roles of the warmongers and patriotic nation were in conflicts throughout the history and continue up to now. Our nation dreamt constantly to establish democracy and safeguard the national values and social norms but a mysterious group appeared to dismantle the aims and ambitions.
There were three main factors behind the historical wars imposed on our nation: First, we lacked political maturity and deception. Whoever smiled, behind a friendly façade, we shook hand from the bottom of our heart and deemed it a perfect companion. Our pure conscience and sincere policy were highly exploited. For instance, when the Taliban militants set foot in the country, the individuals welcomed them with open arm. A deep sense of hope permeated across the country. They were said to establish an impeccable law and order in the society and would change Afghanistan into utopia. But this hope soon disappeared and the public dream did not come true. To their unmitigated chagrin, the Taliban regime changed the country into dystopia via launching carnage and violence.
Honesty and faith in commitments, which were deeply embedded in our culture, played a counterproductive role in our history. Violating a commitment was considered immoral and we followed the famous rule of “honesty is the best policy”. However, those who believed the opposite, they were the winner.
The second factor was disunity or the civil unrest. Our national glories, such as winning victory over the Soviet Union, were faded into oblivion and a tension broke out among the citizens. The ugly incident of civil war led to wide destruction and undermined our national honor. Moreover, the opportunists utilized the tension in their own political interests and muddied the water more than ever before. The existence of the Taliban militants is one of the results.
Thirdly, the radical ideologies penetrated into the minds of the youths who joined seminaries outside and this issue heralded violence across the country. They were trained military tactics and were armed to launch operation against modernization and western products. This group was the real ideologue, on the grounds of being brainwashed, rather than mercenary fighters. Weighing their values in the state, they found themselves playing an effective role and welcomed by the conservative individuals. They remain adamantly opposed to modernization and continue their militancy without flexibility.
The extremists seem to be the most productive creature, which can hardly be rooted out. Their dogmatic frames of mind are handed out to their progenies rather than being buried with their bodies. They are supported to fertilize their toxic beliefs in the minds of simple teens and preteens.
The past decade of counterterrorism failure bespeaks of the same fact. The pregnant silence after the 9/11 attacks was a break for the Taliban to reorganize their ragtag groups so as to continue insurgency in a more equipped manner. Moreover, the seminaries outside the country are yet the hotbed of radical ideologies, which are futuristic potential threat to the Afghanistan’s security, and have to be considered by the officials. Hence, these were the critical factors behind the security situation in Afghanistan.
Currently, the challenges, especially the rise in militancy, have slowed down the process of democratization in the country. The Afghans’ long-standing ambition for peace and stability is interrupted by terrorist acts. In other words, the ideologues and political mercenaries still attempt to prevent from democratization. Is there any peaceful way left to channelize for democratic system and stabilize the country?
Suggesting peace negotiation seems no more effective. Afghans must learn from the past and prevent from going an endless and labyrinthine path – which leads to nowhere. The former president Hamid Karzai left no stone unturned to bring the Taliban militants to the table of negotiation, but all the efforts were in vain. He knocked on every door, as a result he traveled to Pakistan for 21 times to have her played a conciliatory role, released the Taliban militants to ingratiate himself and called them “discontented brothers”. In 2008 Karzai even offered to provide security for the Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Omar, if he agreed to peace talks – this was not incentive enough.
The High Peace Council, which was established in 2010, was tasked with contacting the Taliban and convincing them to join the peace process. The members of High Peace Council (HPC) were making efforts days and nights in pursuit of brining Taliban’s leaders on the table of negotiation. However, all the efforts met failure repeatedly. In spite of the government‘s efforts focused on re-integrating Taliban fighters, they did not have a reconciliation strategy.
On the other hand, when any Talibans’ senior leaders evinced interest in peace talks, they were attacked by unknown armed men. As a result, 5 Taliban commanders, including Mulavi Abdul Raqib and Molavi Noorullah Hotak, were shot dead for the intention of holding peace talks with Afghan officials. Moreover, Mutasim Aqa Jan, who led Dubai peace negotiation session, was denied by the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid to have any links with Taliban. To put it succinctly, Taliban are not led by a central power and therefore unable to sit on the table of negotiation.
It would be naïve of us to repeat the archaic procedures for counterterrorism. We must have reached the political maturity after passing political ups and downs. Our nation will be able to establish democracy if they learn from the checkered history.