ANOTHER WITHDRAWAL ANOTHER CHALLENGE

Afghanistan recently celebrated the 25th year of withdrawal former Soviet soldiers from its soil. Exactly 25 years later, forty other countries, combating with Taliban and al-Qaeda for over 12 years, are in a process to pull out.

The withdrawal of last of Soviet troops from the Hairatan border brought huge joy among Mujahideen who viewed themselves as the winner of the ten-year-long war.

After the Soviet withdrawal, Western countries giggled disdainfully that they have dealt a major blow to communist ideology and have paved the way for its ultimate collapse. Millions of Afghans, who also viewed the communist system as existential threat to their values and religious beliefs, also celebrated the day.

But the enjoyment didn’t last long. The Mujahideen, who had fought against Soviet forces, continued their warfare; this time against the government of Dr Najib who was viewed as a Soviet stooge in Afghanistan. Despite his continuous calls for peace talks with leaders of different Jihadi outfits, none welcomed the peace negotiations with the government. At that time, the Najib regime had almost given up sponsoring the communist ideology. All the manoeuvres to pacify and appease the Mujahideen couldn’t thwart their bid to rout and trounce the strong Najib government.

Recent BBC Persian reports reveal that after withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Soviet Union left 2500 tanks and armoured vehicles and 500 airplanes and helicopters ‘which, of course, could have played a decisive role against ground fighters. In his many speeches, Dr Najib openly warned people of re-emergence of chaos and anarchy or even the open interference of intelligence of neighbouring countries. But immersed in the jubilance of Soviet pullout, Mujahideen leaders didn’t come short, and marched into the capital to oust the government and establish their own one. But the events of coming decades unfolded in such a way that today people feel nostalgic about government of Dr Najib.

Anyhow, what has passed is now a history, but the Soviet withdrawal, collapse of Najib government, and subsequent consequences are like a huge library that we should furnish our political consciousness otherwise a similar period is repeatable.

First thing the Afghans must reckon is that the government may not resist against rising bloodshed for long. Though Najib regime was strong from all angles ‘having mighty air force, armoured vehicles, tanks and equipped security establishment that could stand against a strong foreign force’ yet all those succumbed to the might of the Mujahideen. On the contrary, at present, the Afghan security forces have meagre supply of arms as compared to their predecessors.

Certainly, when the Mujahideen leaders did not compromise and kept instigating people against the government, there remained only two choices: First one was to keep murdering people who were presumably fighting for the sake of Allah Almighty, and were defending their country and its values. Many dictators around the world fight and kill their people only to prolong their despotic rule and ensure the authority of their cronies. But, generally, in such antagonism, thousands of people lose their lives as history of various countries displays. The ultimate result is the complete collapse of social, economic and political infrastructure that inflicts miseries on the citizens for decades to come.

The second choice was to give up everything to avoid bloodshed ‘what Dr Najid did. He did not resist common civilians who had no idea that Jihad was over and they are fighting against their own brothers and that too with money from enemies veiled as friends. He even did not flee Afghanistan to seek refuge in any other country. He steadily remained there to prove that he was right and people mistakenly branded him as a stooge of the Soviet. He exposed the bitter fact that many Islamic countries were shedding only crocodile tears. Dr Najib unearthed the purpose behind funding different groups and proved that they did not support different groups to defend the Islamic principles rather they were doing it only to find a place for their own feet in Afghan soil.

If during communist era, people were graved with trail by bulldozers, Mujahideen wrote memorandum by blood of innocent children of Afshar. Meanwhile no Islamic countries showed opposition rather they tried to intensify the communal fighting by sending arms to different antagonist groups.

Present Afghan government is fighting a far dangerous group i.e. Taliban who have a well-defined ideology which tastes better for common people. The Karzai government is not stronger than Dr Najib’s.

It is highly possible if the US and Nato/Isaf forces completely withdraw from Afghanistan, Taliban and their al-Qaeda ally will ratchet up pressure aimed at utter collapse of any government. In such case, the bloodshed will soar and Afghan security forces would have to fight for democracy; in which Taliban do not believe much. But Taliban and al-Qaeda fight for an ideology for which they even commit suicide. On one side, the government considers bloodshed as obnoxious while on the other, considers it a sacrifice for the sake of Allah Almighty.

In such a scenario, no one should be much optimistic about the progress of democratic system. Thus, learning from the past, Afghan officials should not commit the mistakes of previous regimes and never fuel xenophobia instead they should develop a constructive relation with them in order to ensure peace and stability in Afghanistan of future.