Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Constitution Your War Bounty, French Envoy Tells Afghans

Constitution Your War Bounty, French Envoy Tells Afghans

KABUL - French ambassador to Afghanistan David Martinon on Sunday said a dialogue has started between Afghans for the first time and they believed reconciliation was possible if based on the Constitution.
“This constitution, dear friends, is your war bounty. It is your common treasure,” the ambassador told participants of an event marking the French National Day here.
Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, ministers, lawmakers and government officials were present on the occasion.
The French envoy said they also believed that there was indeed a growing Afghan nation, one century after the independence of Afghanistan. “Building a nation requires time and passion.”
In 1919, King Amanullah was concerned that the independence of Afghanistan by itself would not be enough to create the Afghan nation, therefore he had three intuitions that he decided would become public policies, recalled Martinon.
First conviction of the King
The French envoy said to create a true Afghan nation, everyone in the country has to feel that he or she is Afghan before being Tajik, Pashtun, Uzbek, Hazara, Turkmen or Sikh.
“Therefore, on the first taskeras that were issued, was only written the precious word “Afghan”, with no mention of any ethnic group.  More than ever, your diversity should be your strength, not a cause for division."
Second royal conviction:
He said to build an Afghan nation, the country needed education for everyone and was why the king started a program to provide free education for children.
“Please don’t let anyone waste this precious legacy. Young girls will be watching. Because one day, they will have the power anyway."
Third royal conviction:
To form a national identity, the Afghan people needed to rediscover its own history. Therefore, King Amanullah asked the French to start archeological searches around the country, said the envoy.
Then the Afghans realized that their history was incredibly rich, starting from the era of Bouddhism, when Afghanistan was one of the key places for the diffusion of this philosophy, to Alexander the Great, who came here as a former student of the great philosopher Aristoteles.
“Because he was eager to learn from other religions and philosophies to form his wisdom. So from the pre-islamic period till today, Afghanistan has always been contributing to the richness of world culture.”
The ambassador said 4000 French soldiers left Afghanistan in 2013 to be instantly redeployed in Sahel in Africa, starting a very demanding counter-terrorism mission.
Since that date, 4000 French soldiers have been fighting against Daesh and Al Qaida in an operation covering five different countries, on a distance of more than four thousand kilometers.
“I emphasize this to remind us that this war against terrorism is a global war. We proudly take our part in it. But before we lost soldiers, we first lost members of NGOs.”
About the September president election, the French envoy said: “Again, this election is your war bounty.  Don’t let anyone deprive you from that precious right so many people around the world would love to enjoy.”
David Martinon said On July 26 the election campaign will start and if the Afghans loved their country, they had to make these two months count.
“Make it a moment of real politics, a moment of vivid debates, of free expression, of respect. Make it a moment of passion. Put the 18 candidates under your own personal scrutiny. Ask questions, tough ones. Start debates about what Afghanistan should do. About peace notably!(Pajhwok)