Now that the Taliban are grappling with a legitimacy crisis, they should avoid their previous hardline approach and instead should accept the fact that Afghanistan is a diverse and multi-ethnic nation.
NEW YORK: As a post-2001 generation, I saw my nation torn apart by the Taliban takeover.
For me as a journalist and as a citizen who closely monitored the changing political landscape of Afghanistan since 2011, the first shock that jolted the pillars of democracy in my country can be traced back to the 2016 elections in the United States.
The rise of President Donald Trump and his vague policy on the Afghan war and peace were indicative that Trump was dealing with the Afghan conflict with dilemma and delusion rather than trying to understand it from a strategic perspective in view of the challenges that were emanating from the war in Afghanistan—a country surrounded by a number of hostile neighbours, including Pakistan which is Afghanistan’s traditional and conventional enemy. Pakistan—a country which according to reports received over 40 billion dollars from the US and its western allies under the pretext of providing supply routes to American and NATO military convoys.
Trump, who previously portrayed himself as a mainstream critic of the longest war in American history in Afghanistan came up with a series of contradictory policies for tackling the Taliban insurgency including his so called South Asia strategy, which left no positive implications on strengthening the foundations of a newly established democracy in Afghanistan through curbing Pakistan’s hostile policy and Pakistan military’s geostrategic ambitions in Afghanistan.
Pakistan, which wields a strong influence on the Taliban and its military offshoot, the Haqqani network, got a new opportunity under the Trump administration to further fan the flames of war in the country by collaborating with and increasing military support to the Taliban who were toppled from power following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, which killed thousands of innocent people.
Secondly, the catastrophe that was forged for Afghanistan in the state of Qatar in the shape of the Doha peace deal between the Taliban and the Trump administration further emboldened the Taliban for a military takeover and its long-time supporter Pakistan to accelerate efforts in pursuit of political legitimacy for the Taliban.
The Doha deal also provided a new lifeline to the Taliban and Pakistan to think about an absolute military takeover rather than endorsing a political settlement and a peaceful transition of power to an interim government in Afghanistan as a result of intra-Afghan negotiations.
The deal also sidelined the Afghan government as Washington’s strategic partner as defined in the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) signed between the two nations in 2014.
The Doha peace deal also put other Afghan political forces away from the Taliban’s intentions despite the fact that these Afghan factions had fought the Taliban for years mainly those once part of the former Northern Alliance—an anti Taliban alliance which includes mostly the non-Pashtun ethnic forces—the Tajiks, the Hazaras and the Uzbeks.
Historic facts show that Afghanistan as a multi-ethnic country cannot be digested easily by Pakistan and its proxy forces. Because an absolute majority of the Afghan people believe that Pakistan has been the main source of conflict in Afghanistan at least after the withdrawal of Soviet Union from their country.
Although the Taliban are an undeniable reality of Afghanistan, but they cannot survive without gaining legitimacy from the Afghan people and by insisting on their radical and hardline politics in a changing world.
There is still a resistance against the Taliban going on under the leadership of Ahmad Massoud, the son of the iconic Afghan national hero Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was assassinated by an Al Qaeda terrorist network on 9 September 2001, just two days before the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
Today, no nation is prepared to recognise the Taliban as a legitimate government. Because the Afghans and the world have experienced the way the Taliban ruled in the past.
Even Pakistan, which cheered the fall of democracy in Afghanistan and the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces (ANDSF) has not yet recognized the Taliban as a legal government. Because the Pakistani government fears that such a move will isolate Islamabad on the international stage.
Now that the Taliban are grappling with a legitimacy crisis, they should avoid their previous hardline approach and instead should accept the fact that Afghanistan is a diverse and multi-ethnic nation and it is better for the Taliban to pave the way for peaceful transition of power to an interim government so that a democratic election can be held under the watch of the international community.
Pakistan should also remember that the more it interferes in Afghanistan’s internal issues the more it gathers the hatred of the Afghan people. Pakistan, which is now facing a potential economic crisis, will never succeed to establish a puppet regime in Kabul for long. Pakistan’s political and strategic adventurism must end and the international community particularly the United States has moral obligations to put pressure on Pakistan to stop the further destruction in Afghanistan.
Pakistan is also expanding its alignment with the Chinese communist regime to find a financial lifeline for the Taliban—this can be done in the shape of the Chinese stealing the Afghan mines under the pretext of investment. The Chinese communist regime which suffocates freedom and is engaged in political terrorism against the Muslims in China, in recent months has tried to portray that it is ready to help Afghanistan by sending a few dollars and some medical supplies or aid. But these politically fabricated efforts will not bring lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan and in the region.
The 20 years of US engagement in Afghanistan has transformed the socioeconomic fabric of Afghan society and helped the nation gain a reputation on the international stage. The two decades of US engagement helped Afghanistan to rebuild a vast part of its infrastructure and economic and political foundations. Afghanistan during the past two decades made tremendous strides in the field of human rights, women’s rights, education, trade, girls’ education, regional and international integration and connectivity.
Unlike President Joe Biden’s assessment that the United States did not go to Afghanistan for nation building, we the Afghans believe that the generous US support during the past two decades helped the divided Afghan society to move towards nation-building. Today all Afghans are eyeing the international community not to abandon them in this critical juncture of history.
Under the Taliban government, today no Afghan feels safe, the economy is crumbling, the youths and the elites are fleeing, poverty and inflation are rising, schools which were built and funded from the money of the American taxpayer are closed for girls, there is no government institution, the banking system is on the verge of collapse and ethnic cleansing is underway in several areas in north and central areas mostly populated with the Hazaras.
The fall of Afghanistan will further increase instability in the region. Because today once again Afghanistan has become a battleground for regional nations to recruit their proxies and use them for their personal agendas within and against the West.
Syed Zabiullah is an Afghan journalist from Kabul. He tweets @syed2000