What happened in Chicago

The self-made-guardians-of-the-world countries gathered in Chicago in the third week of May to discuss how to keep Afghanistan under their control after the ultimate withdrawal of their troops in 2014 and how to ensure that the Taliban do not come in power there once again. It was decided that according to the programme the process of withdrawal should be started and the security system of Afghanistan be handed over gradually to the Afghan army in 2013, and one lakh thirty thousand troops of Nato should be fully withdrawn from there in 2014. As for keeping Afghanistan under their control, no such method was devised nor was it announced as there was no need to declare it nor to devise any such method. Everyone knows what will happen there. CIA, Mossad and agencies of some other countries will continue their activities there as they have been doing in other Muslim countries. On the other hand, Afghan president Hamid Karzai wants that the Taliban should not be treated as arch enemy rather a dialogue should be initiated with them and their cooperation should be sought in the establishment of peace in Afghanistan and its reconstruction.

Perplexity in New Delhi

The news coming from Chicago that Nato (America) has taken ultimate decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, has caused perplexity among the political and journalistic circles of New Delhi. The Times of India has expressed it at its climax.  It has written in its May 23 editorial: ‘Nato should not make haste in withdrawing from Afghanistan’. Times says that “Nato summit… failed to answer some tough questions…. Compounding matters further is the decision of new French President Francois Hollande to pull out all French troops by the end of the year. This could embolden the Taliban…. the biggest challenge remains Pakistan, which would demand billions of dollars for its cooperation in the war on terror…. acceding to its demands would be suicidal for Nato.” But the perplexity of Times is: “A Taliban comeback in Afghanistan would be a huge blow to regional security, providing a boost to radical Islamists the world over.”

The Government of India shouldn’t worry

This editorial note of the English daily informally represents the foreign policy of Government of India. Whenever it was the talk of withdrawal of occupying forces from Afghanistan during the last two years, this has been the response of New Delhi directly or indirectly. But here we don’t intend to comment of this response. Our concern is only that efforts are being made to make the world afraid of Islamists in the name of opposing the Taliban. When the media uses the term “Islamic radicalism”, no one feels difficulty in understanding its real meaning. The Taliban are the people having faith in Islamic principles in their individual and collective lives. They had established a government in Afghanistan on these very principles, which brought an end to international trade in drugs and wiped out crimes and obscenity from that country. It had put a check on the import of immoral culture of the west. That is why America spoiled their government by staging the 9/11 drama. After the end of Taliban rule, our government has invested a lot in Afghanistan and it is afraid of it. But the Government of India should not be afraid of the comeback of Taliban rather should have a dialogue with them. Our interests there can be safer now than earlier. Then an analysis of a government established on Islamic principles and its performance should be made in an unbiased manner.

28/05/12 khabar-O-Nazar by Parwaaz Rahmani, sehrozaDAWAT, translated by: Abu Yusuf