Staff Reporter
In an interactive session at the Institute of Policy Studies, Dr Ghulam Farouq Azam, a veteran Afghan leader and academician, has termed the incumbent rule of Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan as the only hope for the people of the country as the previous government had left it in the lurch creating an administrative void that needs to be filled.
Regarding the collapse of the US-backed Afghan government machinery against the onslaught of the Taliban, the speaker said, “the Taliban did not trigger the fall of the system as it collapsed on its own.”
Dr Azam believed that educated, skilled Afghan refugees in Pakistan can fill the void created by the exodus of Western-funded, anti-Taliban workforce in Afghanistan.
He warned the Taliban-led government against the growing chaos amid the lack of jobs in Afghanistan.
He urged them to face this daunting challenge by creating employment opportunities for people who have become unemployed.
Otherwise, the masses will create hindrances in governance that will eventually lead to the government’s failure.
He also deliberated on a dilemma the Taliban government is facing currently; whether the government should feed the people or provide services to them.
Employing excessive people in government or other institutions will be disastrous for the country in the long run.
Another big task lying ahead for the Taliban is to find skilled and like-minded human resource to run the state machinery.
The United States and its allies have evacuated more than 125000 Afghans so far, mostly those who have worked with Americans and previous Afghan governments creating a vacuum of skilled human resource in Afghanistan. This however has created lack of relevant skilled labour in the country.
The speaker opined that most Afghan refugees living in Pakistan were educated and trained, are good entrepreneurs, and would be willing to go back to Afghanistan to help the new government if it creates opportunities for them to fill the vacuum. This thing should be facilitated by both Pakistan and the IEA, he stressed.
The speaker doubted the intention of the US government, which perhaps does not want the future government to succeed or wants to prove to the international community that the people of Afghanistan did not want them to leave.
