Sreedhar

Taliban is a Pashtun movement and remains so even today. The Durrani tribes have ruled Afghanistan, but the Taliban leadership comes from the Ghilzai tribe, which lives mainly in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. Taliban’s success inside Afghanistan was mainly because of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. By 1997-98, Al Qaeda and Taliban had become synonymous. Taliban has been systematically eliminating the opposition, especially the Northern Alliance. Since its emergence, Taliban has liquidated nearly half a million people.

One of the options being advocated in the post-Taliban political framework is return of the King Zahir Shah. The US and the European countries have promoted him. However Zahir Shah is not happy with the way the US has been bombing Afghanistan, killing Pashtuns. He will not enter Afghanistan till all the American troops leave the country.

The Northern Alliance, at present, after the assassination of Massoud, has no leadership. Dostum and Ismail Khan were never popular. Besides, Pakistan is opposed to the formation of any government led by the Northern Alliance.

The third option is to have a broad-based moderate Taliban. This option is being prompted by Pakistan to rehabilitate the Pashtuns and continue its control. Anybody who defects from the Taliban is considered as moderate. But the morale inside the Taliban is high and the Taliban forces are loyal to its leader Mullah Omar.

What is needed inside Afghanistan is a National Reconciliation Commission and the formation of a Multilateral Task Force on the models of Cambodia and Sierra Leone to begin with. An interim government will not be an answer.

Kalim Bahadur

Afghanistan consists of conservatives and creative fundamentalists. The conservatives like the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Hizb-e-Islami narrowly interpret the religious texts, whereas the creative fundamentalists follow the text in light of modernity. 

The Taliban are extreme conservatives, and have mixed up their conservatism with the tribal laws. Inside the Taliban, the influence of the local mullahs is high, but their knowledge is very limited. These local mullahs have a powerful network and support the Taliban. Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader, is not an educated person and cannot issue fatwas.

The meaning of jihad has been distorted. Jihad means strife or struggle. It is defensive in nature, and not offensive. The attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon are not jihad as only a state can declare jihad. Pakistan cannot declare jihad, as it is not a true Islamic state. A state that cannot pass the Shariat bill cannot be called as an Islamic State.

IP Khosla

The objective of the US is to capture Osama bin Laden through the Northern Alliance. However getting bin Laden will not solve the problem. The US had to win over the hearts and minds of the Afghans and the world public opinion, as the bombing of the civilians is deliberate and unjust. There is a general upsurge among the Muslim states against the US. Even Saudi Arabia is not fully with the US and has been asking for evidence to prove bin Laden’s involvement in the attacks.

In the future, Afghanistan will only be a small blip on the US radar screen and will not involve in nation building in the country. It is doubtful whether Zahir Shah will come back, given these conditions.

Since 1973, the northern parts of Afghanistan have been under the influence of the present CIS (Confederation of Independent States), due to ethnic affinities. There is a sense of unity among the Pashtuns and they are close to Pakistan due to the presence of the community there.

Comments, Questions and Responses

·                     The Arabs are supporting Al Qaeda, especially the Saudi Arabia government. Without their active economic support Laden and Al Qaeda would not have succeeded in establishing such a wide network. 

·                     It is doubtful whether Pakistan will have the same leverage over Taliban or even with the Pashtuns in future. It would be interesting to see what position Pakistan would adopt towards any new setup. 

·                     Civilian bombings by the US is not be deliberate and is accidental

·                     India had a lot of political assets in Afghanistan. What happened to this goodwill? Have they been totally wiped out?

·                     The US is confused in its objectives in Afghanistan. Its domestic motivations need to be taken into consideration in determining its actions in Afghanistan.

·                     Musharraf’s future does not depend on the outcome of the present Afghan crisis. It depends on Kashmir.

·                     Osama bin Laden is actively being supported by the Inter Services Intelligence of Pakistan (ISI). As long as the ISI supports him, he is safe.

·                     India should have maintained close relations with atleast that section of Afghanistan which expected India’s assistance. Indian never supported even the Pashtun demands vis-à-vis Pakistan and refused to aid the Northern Alliance. 

·                     The Afghans have traditionally been very close to India. In Uttar Pradesh, even today, there are a number of towns, which resemble Afghanistan in their street and locality names.