July 06, 2019

Afghanistan: a house divided amid desperate longing for peace

topic:	Humans
located:	Afghanistan
editor:	Shadi Khan Saif

The raging bloodbath in Afghanistan that has taken place over generations has made the beautiful mountainous country synonymous with unending human suffering. But, the Afghan power brokers across the board continue to remain divided amid desperate longing for peace among the masses.

More often than not, external forces and hostile regional powers, mainly Pakistan, are blamed for keeping the pot of violence in Afghanistan boiling. Without countering or denying this, what is often overlooked is the inability or unwillingness among Afghans at the top level in the society to unite for the sake of the country and the people.

On one end, the Afghan Taliban remain indifferent toward the loss of innocent civilian lives as well as the brazen killing of their own country mates in uniform. On the other end, an array of Afghan politicians are bent upon missing no chance of points scoring and mud throwing at the Kabul administration when it comes to peace parlay.

The Taliban on its part is simply counting days as it sees itself as the government-in-waiting without taking into consideration the desire or lack of that among the Afghans towards their style of governance. They seem stubborn to grab absolute power and perhaps accommodate some segments of the political elite before resuming what it was doing during its rule in the late 1990s. There are no signs of the Taliban transforming itself to adapt to the new realities of modern Afghanistan and become part of it.

Let us assume for a moment that the Taliban grabs power in Kabul amid a haphazard withdrawal of foreign troops. What would guarantee stability in the short-term and sustainability in the long-term?

Only a handful of Afghan politicians in the previous so-called intra-Afghan dialogue with the Taliban dared to speak the truth and call for unity and peace. The much-awaited next round of such talks in Doha, Qatar is another rare opportunity for Afghans to embrace peace with unity before fatigue among Afghanistan’s international partners further prolong this already forgotten conflict.

Image: Sgt. Ken Scar, CC