The Afghan peace talks between the US and Taliban than the surrender of mightiest armies.

True that the US, NATO, and some of their allies spent trillions of dollars, men, and machines to build the state in Afghanistan for the poor in Afghanistan was spent in Wazir Akbar Khan. Suffice would be the result of several expensive elections to conclude the debate on the point.

Pakistan all these years, has worked through a multi-prong strategy carefully crafted with its in-depth knowledge of Afghanistan and Afghans characteristics for monetary gains. It did not allow any nation-building and state-building to happen in the country. It non-stop not only kept senior politicians from minority groups on its payroll but also protected them despite, knowing their closeness to India and West. They also recruited people from virtually all state institutions. That was to keep an active troupe of informers from within the West’s favorite district in Capital Kabul.

Beyond this, they created and supported religious groups such as Tableeghe Jamat, Jamat Islah, Hizb-Tahrir, hardcore Wahabis, and most of the Jehadi groups yesteryears who are now part of the inner political configuration in Kabul. Jamat Islah has spread through the length and breadth of the country, trespassing all the ethnic boundaries and has successfully made a mass basis. They have schools, universities, media outlets of all kinds. In the name of reforms, they have been conducting mass cultivation through the recital of Quranic verses. Oran being sensitive and no one from the Kabul based elites could provide an informed opinion on the risk of these activities in a highly charged situation. Afghans in rural and peri-urban parts have been impressed by their work. Tablighi Jamat has created a base in Kabul and they have been taking missions to covert Muslim citizens to their school. Wahabis use the money to incentivize people to follow them with the help of Afghan expatriates from the US and Europe.

The democrats in Kabul that think, like Hez-i-Islami, the Taliban will become irrelevant after the peace agreement continues to miss the new equation on the horizon.  Those who spoke the fiercest against the Taliban quietly agreed to US peace for Afghanistan. The landscape beyond Kabul River and Haji Yaqoob square has undergone a colossal transformation from privately religious into religiously radical masses. Taliban will come as a formidable political force and they can easily create common cause with other religious groups including Shai factions to win the election. Taliban in power is the end of democratic processes in Afghanistan. They might keep election as a token of appeasement to West. Afghanistan with humongous troves of strategic minerals at the hands of radicals will unleash insecurity of global magnitude. 

To reclaim the space, grace, respect, and the nation, the few sane political leaders must look beyond their narrow personal interests and engage with India and China to secure financial, military, and international support in case of a zero-sum imposed peace. Part of the strategy should be the revival of inclusive Afghan nationalism and the liberation of masses from the blackmail of institutionalized religion even if it requires reasonable coercive measures.

View expressed in this article are of the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Pajhwok’s editorial policy.

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