Daily Times

Beset with so many political and social problems, Afghanistan currently needs collective unity and statesmanship. Unfortunately, unnecessary brinkmanship by a few keeps adding to an already volatile complex socio-political landscape.

One would understand the frustrations resonated in Kabul or in Washington, particularly coming from people like Zalmay Khalilzad, former US ambassador to Afghanistan. He is a born Afghan and naturalised American who rose to highest ranks of diplomacy but continues to peddle a narrative (on the causes of conflict) that probably has outlived its utility.

Or the fixed toxic views on Pakistan of Amrullah Saleh, the ex- chief of National Directorate of Security (NDS), who keeps spitting venom against Pakistan, and the GHQ in particular.

These gentlemen, if one were to extrapolate their twitter trail – exemplify extreme negativity, are proponents of a fixed narrative clad only in black and white. And there are many of this sort – both in and outside the Kabul government and the Parliament. There are mostly born Afghans, but naturalized Americans, Canadians, British, or permanent residents of Gulf countries.

They seem to have little stake in peace in Afghanistan, promoting one to think as to whether they are at all interested in defeating the militant status quo and helping their parent country at all? Particularly if they continue peddling skewed geo-political narratives, singing the song of external interests?

They are of course entitled to their views, and one should respect this right. At times, Saleh’s anti-Pakistan vitriolic tirade borders on ignorance, insanity and juvenility, which hardly helps the cause the majority of key Afghan stakeholders are trying to achieve.

He is opposed to President Asharaf Ghani, Hekmetyar, and he also disagrees with the idea of a ceasefire as well.

Saleh’s following tweets illustrate the kind of grim issues that Afghans at large faces but seem to be hostage to a few nay-sayers: “Dear Helmand Peace Marchers, welcome to heart of your country. U have instilled a new culture by devoting the entirety of your veins & soul to peace. Kabul is a wrong place to seek peace. It is a seeker itself. Please keep marching to GHQ Rawelpindi where peace is held hostage.”

In a tweet on June 12, he said, “Afghan want & wish peace & harmony by all its veins & d first step should be a meaningful & sincere implementation of NUG agreement by ?@ashrafghani with ?@afgexecutive. Outreach from a unstable platform to d enemy will be disaster unless ?@ashrafghani has secret second thoughts.”

On Jun 16, he tweeted, “The verification part (ceasefire) is completely missing from d ongoing ceasefire deal with the Taliban. The anti-Taliban constituency which provides the bulk of troops to ANDSF feel betrayed, confused & sold out. If it is a pan Afghan deal then explain it to all. Why afraid ?”

On Jun 10, he said, “In absence of international counselling it seems the National Unity Govt is politically on the brink as @ashrafghani & his associates continue 2 violate d 2014 acc. & brazenly pursue racist policies for benefit of a clique. There is little or no comunication between leaders.Too BAD.”

Saleh’s views on PTM also expose a general contradiction among Afghans on the issue; at home they have turned the ID card into a massive ethnic issue, directed against Pashtoon Afghans.

On Jun 4, he tweeted, “The slogans of the Pashtun Tahfuz Movment (PTM) in Pak sums up all of our narrative that behind every terrorist there is a uniformed man. The claim of rogue is vague & fake. We know your unknown.”

On May 29, he tweeted, “The genie of fraud is out again. The @IECAfghanistan says over 4 million hv registered. Breakdown is kept secret. For more than a mnth less than one milion had registred. But when ghosts were allowed to register in less than two weeks the number jumped to 4 million. SAY YOUR WISH SIR.”

The main point of contention has been the use of the term ‘Afghan’ on identity cards, to refer to all Afghan citizens. The word was historically synonymous with Pashtun, the country’s largest ethnic group. Other groups, especially the second-most-numerous Tajiks, have objected that using “Afghan” would politically benefit Pashtuns. But at the same time, they see and hail the PTM as a great movement for Pashtuns’ rights in Pakistan.

One wonders if such nay-sayers really believe their thinking will carry the day for an embattled nation which is craving for peace and has just experienced nearly 72 hours of peace? Although two big suicide bombings partially shook the peaceful celebrations, yet those three days did generate new hopes.

Why should leaders on both sides allow such negative mindset to sully the bilateral discourse? The joint challenge ahead for everybody in Kabul and Islamabad/Rawalpindi is to neutralise such mindset through talk and walk. The answer to these lobbies lies in continuing and expanding the dialogue. And events of the past few weeks do underscore that if leaders on top focus on the cooperative spirit of engagement they can effectively contain and neutralise those wedded to the narratives of confrontation.

One would expect that Dr. Abdullah Abdullah , an extremely suave and level-headed person, will lend his support to the Pak-Afghan dialogue and prevent his supporters from injecting unnecessary acrimony into the process. Tens of millions of Pakistanis and Afghans deserve compassion and forward-looking rationally defendable engagement, and not the continuation of the cold-war era mindset that has only wrought havoc across the border.

Published in Daily Times, June 20^th 2018.