On Saturday August 08, 2012, the 11thanniversary of Ahmad Shah Masoud, Afghanistan National Hero, was celebrated across the country.Kabul and some northern cities experienced a heavy traffic as resultof closures of streets, raising temporary checkpoints and deploymentof extra security forces.Walking to the city, the heavy presence of security forces wasdetectable.
They were looking agile and prepared to deal with possibleattacks by militants. Every crossing vehicle would not have passedwithout notice, and people with suspicious outfits were stopped andchecked with extraordinary scrutiny. All three security forces, Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan National Army(ANA) National Directorate of Security (NDS), were working in close cooperation withone another to foil any possible terrorist attacks because anypossible incident could weaken the state of government and bring itunder severe criticisms from oppositions.
Moreover, the current political situation is critically volatile.Attacks on supporters of any communal leaders may end up into series of destructive incidents, which may perhaps go out of the control. Thus,the government tried its most to tighten the security belt and preventactivities of militants who are hunting opportunities to disrupt thesecurity situation.
With all those preparation, a bomb went off in theheart of the Capital city which left six dead and several others injured. Theattack was carried out by a young suicide bomber who was reportedlyjust 14 years old.But definitely that was not the only problem during celebration.
While thousands of people were listening to speeches of high-rankinggovernment officials, Jihadi leaders and political activists, talking about peace, stability andnational goals of Ahmad Shah Masoud and the rest who have lost livesin the way of freedom and independence, number of groups drivingblack-cladded vehicles were disrupting the social order.
I was by theroad side waiting for public transportation, when a group of people werepassing in luxurious vehicles with incessant alarms. Motorcycle riderwas moving ahead with a knife in hand to warn drivers to keep theirdistance from the caravan. There were three traffic policemen. They wereshouting on drivers to move in speed in order not to cause traffic jam.One of them approached a corolla stopped nearby passengers and cut off its plate. The driver then with many requests and plea took itback from him.
Just minutes later, a caravan of mourners was on the opposite side and instead of stopping them, the traffic police stopped others to letthem move without headache. Such cases were not exceptional. Civiliansacross the city complained about such caravans' disrupting behaviors.
There were reports about armed individuals among such groups andfiring in the air in order to intimidate civilians. According to someunsubstantiated reports, they smashed some poor people on their way.Such irresponsible move led to clashes between local residents androgue youngsters in district 6, which left unfortunately 2 dead andseveral injured.
A mourner caravan came to area and reportedly,punched a poor civilian on their way which fuelled anger. They soonleft the area, but the situation remained tense as people clashed with police, blaming them of failure to protect people and not doing their duty sincerly. It was feared that incident may convert into a communal clash, but fortunately, it did not happen. It should be noticed that suchirresponsible moves are completely unacceptable and will lead toself-fuelling tragedy.
Celebration of the national heroes does not mean to disrupt the social andpolitical order. If people mourn their martyred leader, they can doit through holding seminars in order to explain his objectives andgrand plans for national building, certainly not through creation ofdisorder and chaos or intimidation of civilians.
The Saturday's incident left deep grievances in the heart of victimized civilians who had caused no problem for anniversary, instead cooperatedthrough showing patience against instigating behaviors of caravans ofmourners. Those caravans indeed did not resemble to mourners or supporters of a great national personality, they looked much like irresponsible youngsters who except irritating people had nothing to do. Perhaps, itis the unique or an exceptional style which is known in Afghanistan.
It is fortunate that the some of the leaders to calm people. WahdatNews agency which belongs to Hezb-e-WahdatIslami soon released areport and asked people to be patient against plots of enemies ofAfghanistan. Later on, Mr. Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, a prominent hazara leader and one of the leaders of Afghanistan National Front (ANF), and Afghanistan National Front called and appealed people to remain calm and do notfall prey to plots of their enemies. But meanwhile condemned the moveand emphasized that such irresponsible attitudes should be controlled.
Ahmad Zia Masoud, thebrother of Ahmad Shah Masoud expressed deep regret and said thatpreviously people were asked not to create trouble for common people. Dr.Abdullah Abdullah also condemned the incident and asked forpersecution of the culprits. However, the widespread condemnation ofirresponsible mourners might have relieved part of the people, but theincident should be considered as a serious alarm.
On the other hand, President Hamid Karzai has appointed a delegation to investigate the incident. The president appointed a delegation headed by his advisor Mohammad AlamShahadatyar, a statement from the Presidential Palace said.
The team includes representatives from the General Attorney Office (AGO), the department of administrative affairs at the Presidential Palace, National Directorate of Security and Cabinet Secretariat.
The delegation has been tasked with probing the incident in coordination with influential figures of the area and submitting its findings to the presidential office within three days.
Thus, all concerned officials and politicalleaders must try their best to manage the situation and prevent a possibility of disorder and chaos.