Afghanistan’s immature democracy is not a panacea for our bleeding nation. The unmitigated pain and suffering of the public continue unabated. One’s freedom is curtailed and people’s rights and dignity are violated in one way or another. Life is very cheap. The tragic episode of civilians’ death makes the daily headlines on local newspapers. The gleam of hope has disappeared and there is a deep sense of fear and disappointment in the air.
The Taliban’s heavy offensives and emergence of the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Afghanistan pose further threat to the life of men, women and children. The recent sectarian violence – which seems to be the product of ISIL’s foothold in the country – has aggravated the political instability.
The “war on terror” did not come to fruition. As stated by US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, “The narrative that we’re leaving Afghanistan is self-defeating”. It has been obvious from the beginning that a complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan will have disastrous consequences. According to the UN, the Taliban are now spread through more parts of the country than at any point in 2001. It is unlikely that a small presence of US troops could ever bring hostilities to an end, especially when 100,000 troops were not able to accomplish that goal.
Similarly, the revelation of Mullah Muhammad Omar’s death on late July led to splinter group and brought the peace negotiation to a deadlock. Currently, the warring factions –Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s pro and anti-groups – have made a genuine peace talk next to impossible. Therefore, terrorism has changed into an interminable challenge in the country and Afghanistan’s High Peace Council (HPC) has achieved no tangible result. In a nutshell, insecurity persists in the country without an effective strategy from the government to tackle the crisis.
Insecurity has wreaked havoc on the country’s economy. A large number of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have abandoned Afghanistan on the grounds of terror and militancy. Similarly, the traders and investors withdrew their capital from the country, especially when some businessmen lost their lives by unknown men in recent months. Therefore, the graph of unemployment is extremely high and scores of university graduates wander without job.
Meanwhile, crime and corruption have escalated on a large scale. In other words, poverty forces people to succumb to a series of crime such as robbery, kidnapping, murder, moral turpitude, etc. so as to survive economic pressures. On top of it, orphans and widowed mothers either beg or hawk cheap objects on the streets from dawn to dusk – despite the cold weather – just to make the ends meet. It should be noted that the poor will show tendency to crime and corruption when being turned a blind eye.
As a last resort, a large number of people, mainly youths, have flocked to foreign countries to flee political and economic crises. Although, the brain drain has aggravated the challenges, there seems no other choice. The National Unity Government (NUG) has no certain mechanism to combat terrorism or tackle the economic stagnation. The rise in civilians’ death toll and unemployment are disregarded by high-ranking officials and the voice of the victims’ families and MPs fall on deaf ears.
Constitutionally, the government is responsible to “Establish an order based on the peoples’ will and democracy; form a civil society void of oppression, atrocity, discrimination as well as violence, based on rule of law, social justice, protecting integrity and human rights, and attaining peoples’ freedoms and fundamental rights; strengthen political, social, economic as well as defense institutions and attain a prosperous life and sound living environment for all inhabitants of this land”. It is also asserted in article 6 of Afghanistan’s Constitution, “The state shall be obligated to create a prosperous and progressive society based on social justice, preservation of human dignity, protection of human rights, realization of democracy….” However, none of the mentioned facts have come true and those who lead a life of luxury will never feel the pain and sufferings of the poor and victims’ families.
According to reports, some of the European countries have decided to deport Afghan refugees – who took risk and spent great amounts of money to breathe a sigh of relief abroad. Most probably, the decision is made on the basis of President Ghani’s suggestion to send them back to Afghanistan. It comes as the families of high-ranking authorities enjoy their life abroad – far from the nation’s anguish and misery. Following a trip to Sweden, President Muhammad Ashraf Ghani said that those Afghan migrants who are not accepted by the Swedish Government will be returned home. Afghan migrants’ issue has been on the agenda of Ghani’s official trip to European countries. Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven is quoted to say as, “most of the migrants who are coming to Sweden are Afghans, most of them are underage and without family which are causing serious problems for both countries, this year we have received more than 20,000 Afghan migrants came to Sweden, efforts are underway to recognize those are not permitted to live in Sweden to return to Afghanistan.”
The fact is that there is no effective strategy to reduce the economic crisis or political instability. If Afghan migrants be returned home, there is neither protection nor job opportunities for them. They will have to suffer from unmitigated challenges like many other citizens or even targeted by the Taliban and ISIL militants without a serious attention from the authorities. To show their commitments to the country, first of all, Afghan officials have to bring their families home and let them live like simple citizens. Secondly, they must provide a safe environment and job opportunities for the people otherwise the migrants’ retune will create further challenges.