AT a time when people of Afghanistan are desperately looking towards the international community for cooperation in the gigantic task of rebuilding of the war-torn country and the world has adopted a policy of wait and see, Prime Minister Imran Khan has sensitized the international public opinion about dangers in isolating the Taliban Government and the urgent need for collaborative approach towards Afghanistan.
In an interview with CNN, he spoke at length on the latest situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan-US relations and other issues in a candid and clear manner conveying Pakistan’s point of view in a convincing manner.
He strongly advocated incentivising Taliban’s new government with a view to ending the current crisis and warned against trying to control Afghanistan from outside, the Prime Minister pointed out that after 40 years there is a Government in Afghanistan that holds all parts of the country together and if the Taliban work towards the inclusive Government, getting all the factions together Afghanistan can have much-needed peace and security.
The analysis of the Afghan situation as highlighted by the Prime Minister and his proposition for a cooperative relationship with the Taliban are shared by a majority of the world public opinion but most of the countries are not coming forward with a clear policy on Afghanistan because of implications of their relations with the US-led West that is adamant to create difficulties in the smooth working of the system in Afghanistan because of its vested interests and biased views on several issues.
Some countries of the world tried to control Afghanistan from outside but all of them miserably failed in the face of unwavering resolve of the Afghan people to safeguard their sovereignty and independence at all costs.
The outside powers, during their 20 year control of Afghanistan through puppet governments, made frantic efforts to impose foreign culture and norms in the country but at the end of the day they had to face humiliation.
There is absolutely no threat to the life and honour of women in Afghanistan or provision of opportunities to them to pursue knowledge or adopt different professions but there are differences on how to realize these objectives.
Women are part and parcel of the Afghan society that religiously guards their culture, norms and traditions and with the exception of a small segment of the women population, Afghan women have no problem in pursuing their goals while preserving their Islamic and Afghan identity.
It is not for the United States or any other country to insist on what type of codes Afghanistan should have and should not.
Afghanistan has got an opportunity to move towards progress and prosperity under a strong central government but some vested interests are trying to destabilize the new government.
They are not only encouraging rival factions to launch armed struggle against the Taliban but are also trying to intimidate countries of the world not to have normal ties with new rulers in Kabul.
National Security Advisor Moeed Yousaf has rightly pointed out that the ‘wait and see’ strategy is flawed as this could push Afghanistan further towards an economic collapse.
Pakistan is advocating the cause of Afghan people as continued crisis and conflict there seriously affected its efforts to accelerate the pace of economic progress and prosperity.
Given the destruction of the country during forty years of turmoil and absence of routine official machinery/institutions, it is generally apprehended that the Afghan economy could collapse especially when most of the donors have blocked the Taliban’s access to funds including the United States which has frozen Afghan assets worth $9 billion held in its banks.
It is also strange that the United States remained actively engaged with the Taliban in the pre-withdrawal phase but now, when they are in control of the country, Washington is trying to punish them for providing the US an opportunity to extricate itself from the muddy situation.
Regrettably, the United States and its coalition partners are only interested in ensuring security and well-being of those who facilitated them during their long occupation of Afghanistan and have no sympathy for ordinary Afghans who want to live in Afghanistan.
Instead of providing humanitarian assistance to cope with the emergent situation in Afghanistan, they are pressurizing Pakistan to establish more refugee camps, a proposition that has been rejected by Islamabad on the basis of its bitter experience when it was left alone to take care of a large number of refugees for three generations with accompanying social, economic and security consequences.
The world should, therefore, listen to the arguments advanced by Prime Minister Imran Khan and come forward to help stabilize peace and security in Afghanistan.
