When the Taliban gets set to reclaim rule
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Fifteen foreign diplomatic missions functioning in Kabul and Nato envoy together have asked the Taliban to stop its attacks all around Afghanistan and prove its commitment to the restoration of peace. But the Taliban, which claims to have captured 85 per cent of Afghanland has not responded positively to this call. The recent US-Taliban negotiation held in Doha regarding a ceasefire ended inconclusively. The expected result of these developments, as observers point out, is that within 6 months, the Taliban, ousted from Kabul 20 years ago by NATO sources under the US, will reclaim complete control of Afghanistan. US President Joe Biden had announced earlier that the remaining US troops would also withdraw from the country by September 11, 2021. Not just America but also its allies and member countries of the NATO and neighboring countries like India, view this development with concern. Two decades after the departure of the Soviet Union, whose forces remained firm in Afghan between 1979 and 1989 and later withdrew citing heavy loss, America has repeated the same blunder and is now withdrawing after suffering immense loss of life. America justified the deployment of armed forces alleging it was to capture Osama Bin Laden, responsible for the September 11, 2001, World Trade Centre attack. However, Yankee forces continued in Afghanistan for long after Bin Laden was killed and his remains disposed of in the sea. America claimed that it had deployed over 2000 soldiers in Afghanistan to train Afghan forces and once that task is complete, the last single soldier would withdraw from Kabul. However, America lost 2300 soldiers and 825 billion dollars as per the official figures of the Pentragon. Afghanistan, the land of brave, patriotic tribal communities who were raised in the diverse demography of the land with its several hills, mountains, forests and paths have no history of yielding to anybody. The world is now suffering the cost of the colossal stupidity of both the Sovet Union and America. It is high time that everyone understands that land reform or social change is not to be imposed from outside wielding arms but gradually and amicably with well-thought out domestic actions.
Not only did India stand with America to hunt for Bin Laden and end the Taliban's attacks, it also spent 2.5 Lakh Crores in projects for Afghanistan's development. The act of a country where 20 crore people live in extreme poverty spending so liberally for Afghanistan's revival is solely driven by the realisation of the consequences of a Taliban which maintains cordial relations with Pakistan, coming back to power there. Behind India's policy are both the security threat to its national security posed by a China-Pak-Taliban alliance and also the justified apprehensions of how this may impact our future development plans. While that is true, we must also consider the grave failure on the part of our governments in restoring and strengthening ties with neighbouring nations which contributed to the state of things today. We must accept the fact that even seven decades after independence, the leaders and rulers of free India could not formulate a foreign policy that took the peaceful and cooperative relations with smaller neighbouring countries seriously enough, or as much as it did about relations with the USA or Russia. The present radical Hindutva government, beyond bragging of military strength and power, remains allergic to very terms like peace, friendship and cooperation. While condemning the Taliban's fundamentalism, can India claim its actions like charging sedition on people who criticize the state for claiming cow dung and urine can cure COVID, are progressive? Mistakes and wrong stances must be criticised whichever side it emerges from. But, this must not be by forgetting oneself. Even with a globally renowned democratic secular constitution in hand, tAfghanistanhere cannot be any justification for such people attempting to take the nation back to the dark ages criticising others with similar aspirations.
