Sooner rather than later we should reopen our embassy in Kabul.
Afghanistan is no stranger to brutal turmoil, deadly violence and chronic disregard for human rights. Broadly speaking, some vital aspects of life in the country take one back to the 19th century. Women’s lot is pitiable and so also of orphans.
The United States got militarily involved in Afghanistan in 2001, after 9/11. President Biden recently decided to pull out 20,000 troops from the country at the wrong time. The US still has 6,000 troops guarding the airport. Yet a suicide bomber belonging to ISIS-Khorasan succeeded in killing 170 Afghans and many foreigners including 13 US servicemen. President Biden’s response was, “We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will make you pay”. How?
What is ISIS-Khorasan? It was formally founded by Hafiz Saeed Khan in 2015, who owed allegiance to Abu Baki al-Baghdadi. Both are dead, but ISIS-Khorasan is not. What does the word Khorasan mean? It means, “The land of the Sun.” The ISIS-K has denounced the Taliban for their occupation of Afghanistan. Their grouse is that the Taliban version of Islam is soft, not hard-line. As its peak the Khorasan had nearly 4,000 fighters. Now they are reduced to 2,000.
It seems there are some sensible individuals among the Taliban. A PTI report from Islamabad quotes Taliban spokesman Zabi-ullah-Mujahid, saying that they consider India as an important part of the region. “We desire good ties with all countries, including India, which is an important part of the region. Our desire is that India devise its policy as per the interest of Afghan people… We have said it before that we won’t allow our soil to be used against any other country. Our policy is clear.” He also expressed the view that Pakistan and India should sit together to resolve all outstanding issues because both are neighbours and their interests are linked to each other. One cannot take exception to this.
However, the Taliban are not in full control of the country. No country has so far recognised the Taliban “government”. The Islamic countries have been silent. Their fear is Taliban influence spreading in their countries.
It must be recognized that events in Afghanistan have been a setback for India. Sooner rather than later we should reopen our embassy in Kabul. Diplomatic absenteeism is not in our interest. We must have a presence in Kabul.
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Rupa & Co are among the top and respected publishers in the country. The owner, R.K. Mehra has been an intimate friend since 1998.
Last evening he sent me a book. “The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War”. The author is Craig Whitlock, an investigative reporter for the Washington Post. He is highly critical of American policy in Afghanistan since 2001. Let me quote from the inner flap of the book, “The Washington Post” sued the US government twice to unearth the documents that form the basis of “The Afghan papers”. Just as the Pentagon Papers transformed the public understanding of Vietnam, these papers provide startling revelations from people who played a direct role in the Afghanistan war, from leaders in the White House and the Pentagon to soldiers and aid workers on the front lines—President George W. Bush did not know the name of his Afghan war commander—and didn’t want to make time to meet with him. Secretary of Defence Donal Rumsfeld admitted he had, “no visibility into who the bad guys are.” His successor, Robert Gates said, “We didn’t know jack shit about Al-Qaeda”.
“In unvarnished language, people at all levels of the conflict admit the U.S. warfighting strategies were a mess, the nation-building project was a colossal failure, and the drugs and corruption gained a stranglehold over their allies in the Afghan government. All told ‘The Afghan Papers’ is based on interviews with more than 1,000 people who knew the government was presenting a distorted and something entirely fabricated version of the facts on the ground.”
That the most powerful country and democracy in the world should hawk falsehoods, when human lives were being killed by indiscriminate bombing are unforgiveable acts.
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I am distressed to learn of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s illness. I wish him a rapid and total recovery at the earliest.