Daily Times

In his Clash of Barbarians: September 11 and the Making of the New World Disorder, Gilbert Achcar writes that each civilisation has its own barbarism. Terrorism and counter-terrorism activities in the post-Cold War world are illustrations of the barbarism of contemporary civilisation. Countless innocents have lost their lives in conflicts of interest between two groups; both legitimise their methods and acts of violence. In the popular narrative, groups like the Taliban, al Qaeda, etc, are regarded as villains and men in uniform are considered to be imbued with missionary zeal to wipe them out. If this popular narrative is ‘true’ or ‘real’, the question arises: why are the evil forces being supported by a large number of people, which has prolonged the Global War on Terror (GWOT) for more than 12 years in Afghanistan? This does not mean that one is supporting groups or the archaic ideology that is responsible for killing people in London, New York, New Delhi and Lahore, etc. Nobody has a perfect answer to the question but everyone has some sort of a ‘reasonable’ or ‘weird’ idea about it.

In the case of Afghanistan the moot reason for stiff resistance put up against NATO by the Taliban is because people at large are against the idea of ‘occupation’ of their land by foreigners. One may refuse to accept this but one cannot refute the history of this region. As tribal war-mongering groups, people from these areas have always opposed any form of suppression or occupation by outsiders.

The GWOT has created chaos in Afghanistan. Even after 12 years of military operations, the writ of the US-backed Hamid Karzai government does not run beyond Kabul. Even today, the Taliban have a substantive presence in Afghanistan. Their fighters are battling against the NATO forces and have been engaged in killing individuals or groups that have an inclination towards the present government. Sensing that Afghanistan could become the next Vietnam, NATO had decided to pull out from Afghanistan in 2014, although it will keep nine military posts under its command. The political and military leadership are well aware that once NATO withdraws, things are going to be beyond the control of the Afghan government. This can be visualised from the fact that as the date of withdrawal is nearing, the level of violence is increasing, thus giving a reason to firmly believe that post-2014 Afghanistan may be a reflection of its post-Soviet withdrawal in 1989. As a last gamble to meet future chaos, the western leadership had even engaged with the Taliban in futile dialogues.

In this situation the question arises: what is the role of Afghanistan’s regional neighbours? This is important because all of them have played their part in Afghanistan reaching this level of degradation. During the cold war and even prior to it, they made a bandwagon to become a pawn in the power game of rival extra-regional powers. This they did mainly to gain ‘strategic’ ascendance against their regional rivals. Therefore, different warlords or ethnic groups in Afghanistan have material and non-material backing from rival neighbouring groups. Two countries that have been pro-active in Afghanistan are India and Pakistan. Since 1947 they have been engaged against each ‘other’ in Afghanistan. At present too their rival ‘strategic’ interests have pitched them against the ‘other’. Bombings on the Indian High Commission and attacks on Indian personnel posted in Afghanistan is a clear example of the extension of the India-Pakistan covert war to Afghanistan. Pakistan played an important part in the formation and strengthening of the Taliban. It is thought that this could be used against its rivals to fight a proxy war against them but it backtracked. Today the same forces have radicalised Pakistani society to some extent; been engaged in the killings of non-Sunnis; and have also attacked military installations. The situation is going to be worse after the withdrawal of NATO forces because after that the Taliban have no one in particular to get engaged with. Thus their focus will be mainly on countries and groups who were not with them during the 12 years of the GWOT.

Is there any solution to the forthcoming predicament? Yes, there is. The ‘only’ ‘effective’ solution to deal with the post-2014 mess is cooperation between India and Pakistan over Afghanistan. It sounds difficult but not impossible. Nations in the international system do cooperate in order to serve their national interests, and a peaceful Afghanistan is in the mutual interest of India and Pakistan. Of course to cooperate they must give up their ‘strategic interests’ and slash down their respective national egos, and may even have to make a few compromises and adjustments. To just talk is easier than doing. To smooth the process, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), under the leadership of a third country, can be pitched in as a guardian-cum-coordinator. To address the law and order problem, a regional peace building force under SAARC can be constituted. I have talked about only two countries because they have been important players in Afghanistan, but other neighbouring countries have to be included in this sort of arrangement too.

Concluding, to return Afghanistan to a ‘normal’ society, its proximate and extended neighbours have to accept their collective mistakes and try to work for a democratic and peaceful Afghanistan. There is no other option, and even this one is running out of time.

The writer is an assistant professor (guest) at the Delhi University, New Delhi. He can be reached at amitranjan.jnu@gmail.com