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| Direct Dialogue with Taliban |
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| A tribal jirga comprising tribal elders from ten eastern and southern provinces of Afghanistan has urged upon the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to initiate direct talks with Taliban. The demand for direct dialogue between the government and the Taliban is not new one. The senate, which is the upper house of the Afghan parliament, has already made a similar demand in a resolution passed last week. The senate motion calling for "direct negotiations with the concerned Afghan sides in the country" was passed by an overwhelming majority. In that resolution the senate also urged upon Western troops in the US-led coalition and Afghan forces to halt the hunt for Taliban fighters and other militants. The motion inter alia reflected the rising public discontent with the government of President Hamid Karzai over civilian casualties at the hands of Western troops, corruption and the failure to turn billions of dollars in aid into better livelihoods.
Earlier this year, Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf had also stated in his address to the concluding session of Pakistan-Afghan Joint Peace Jirga in Kabul that all parties to the Afghan conflict must take note of ground realities in Afghanistan and start negotiations with the Taliban for an enduring peace in the region. The six-point declaration that was issued at the end of the Peace Jirga had therefore emphasised upon contacts with the Taliban. However, no serious efforts were made by the Afghan government after the Peace Jirga to start direct dialogues with the Taliban. In fact, it would have been more prudent if Taliban, who are the main stakeholders in Afghanistan, were associated with the peace process for tangible results much earlier. The reluctance of Karzai Administration to start direct dialogues with the Taliban is a manifestation of the fact that President Hamid Karzai cannot take any major decisions of his country without the approval of the United States and its allies.
Despite their claims to the contrary, the western forces in Afghanistan want to resolve the Afghan crisis by use of force and not by political or peaceful means. They want to do so because they have their vested interests in Afghanistan. Their main mission is not the resolution of the Afghan problem or restoration of peace in Afghanistan but their own military presence in the region. They have nothing at stake in Afghanistan except their strategic and economic interests. It does not really bother them if Afghan people are being killed everyday on both sides of the war. Obviously, President Karzai’s interests cannot be the same as those of the Western powers. His first and foremost duty is to his people. If he fails to fulfil this duty, the historians of his own country will portray him not as a hero but as a villain who collaborated with his foreign masters to deprive his people of peace and prosperity and his country of dignity and sovereignty.
Afghanistan is in the grip of violence ever since the Soviet Union invaded the country in 1979. Apart from short periods of peace, generally the people in that country have been living in war-like conditions for almost thirty years now. The biggest sufferers in this situation have been the people of Afghanistan. There would not perhaps be even a single family which has been intact during this period. The government of President Hamid Karzai must realize this fact. President Karzai has repeatedly vowed to take his country to the path of democracy and prosperity. The key to democracy and prosperity lies in enduring peace and not in violence. If President Karzai is really interested in Afghanistan's return to peace and prosperity he must hold direct talks with the Taliban and other opposition forces to end the rising bloodshed in the country. |
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