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Read, Debate: Engage.
| topic: | Human Rights |
|---|---|
| located: | Afghanistan |
| editor: | Shadi Khan Saif |
The contemporary history of war-ravaged Afghanistan is a testimony to the fact that peace in a society is not possible without justice, and for justice, equality is a prerequisite.
What we have been seeing over the past many years is a blunt foreign intrusion coupled with internal quests for power in clear defiance of the basic principles of justice and equality.
The subsequent rises and falls of various types of regimes, each inspired by different ideas, were actually a cocktail of these two phenomena – an internal quest for power and foreign meddling – neither of which ever let the people of this land breath in peace.
No matter which of these two circumstances one chooses to scrutinise, at whichever point in Afghan history, the result has always produced increased miseries for Afghan men, women and children.
Instead of starting from history, let us begin with the latest developments and track backwards to examine the past.
The recent rise to power of the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate is a classic example of a theological state established through direct and relentless foreign meddling, mainly by neighbouring Pakistan, through its religious schools and the powerful security establishment.
This was well-received by the internal quest for power in Afghanistan, eager to grab ahold of power through force, without regard for the norms of justice and equality in the initial phase.
Even before that, the government installed by the US-led foreign coalition was not so different.
A group - composed mostly of men - was imposed on Kabul with the combined authority of the West in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks in the US..
Afghanistan has seen similar interferences in the 1990s with the Taliban, the Mujahideen in the 1980s, and the Communists in the 1970s and so on.
The only era of relative peace that Afghans have had in their contemporary history was during the monarchy of Zahir Shah when both the foreign meddling and internal quest for power through force were not at play as intensively. This is not to say that everything was perfect, but at least there was peace, and human dignity was not ruined like it is now.
Today, within weeks of the Taliban’s rise to power, we have witnessed bombings in mosques again, the persecution of minorities and the prevalence of poverty.
The lesson Afghans must learn from their blood-stained past is they must strive and attain harmonious social unity, without seeking external influence to secure their desire for power in their own country.
Image by: WikiImages
