topic: | Peace and Reconciliation |
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located: | Afghanistan |
editor: | Shadi Khan Saif |
If any country in the world is a candid example of how military solutions or wars sought to address socio-political and economic issues have terribly failed and in fact led to more troubles and miseries, it is Afghanistan.
Within months of the Taliban takeover of power and the abandonment of Afghanistan by the international community, a majority of the entire population of nearly 40 million people in the war-ravaged country faces with a grim threat of starvation, among all other imaginable crises of statelessness, isolation and brazen meddling by its neighbours.
Who is responsible for the current state Afghans face? Why and how to address this grim humanitarian crisis that concerns every sensible human being? In this fast-paced age, it is utterly important that such historic matters that shake our consciousness so badly are recorded with honesty and truth in our mind with clear distinction of the right and the wrong and possible way out. To cut the long story short, be it the former Soviet Union in the 1970s or the US in the early 2000s, or for that matter, the neighbouring Pakistan and Iran back then and even now, pouring in arms to secure their own interests and force out opponents only yields miseries, deaths and destruction.
The reason I am making this point is that there has to be an end to this, even now when the oppressive regime of the Taliban are in power - not endorsing their rule whatsoever, but advocating for all other ways out instead of a new 'rebellion or resistance' or whatever way you brand it. This is a country of living human beings, millions of whom have been starving, for food, for liberty and for dignity for decades - not a videogame where bloodthirsty demons are on a killing spree. Four decades are enough to realise wars and arms are never the solution.
This all particularly occured to me after listening to a former Afghan military commander vowing a 'new war' against the Taliban. Imagine what it would look like? Would it be targeting the Taliban foot soldiers on the street, just like they used to target the police and other security forces? Both they and the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire are all poor victims of this relentless violence - why do they not understand? I have seen poor locals from the villages joining the Afghan police before as they now join the Taliban just to make ends meet.
Having a check on regional and international meddling and fanning of war on one hand, we, the media, humanitarians and international community, need to compel local actors through all possible and effective ways for peace, inclusion and harmony.
How can this be done practically? The Taliban and the US have a deal, the Doha Agreement, also known as the Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan, signed in 2020, although it was not negotiated or implemented in true spirit, but the months-long diplomatic efforts put into it by major powers led by Washington have brought us where we are - all foreign forces rushing to exit and the Taliban taking charge. Now, without turning a blind eye to the Taliban's way of oppressive rule, similar diplomatic engagement on so many levels are needed with the Afghans on all sides to devise a charter for peace - not another war.
Image by Farid Ershad