Afrasiab Khan Mohmand
On 15th August, the world saw what was ostensibly unexpected for many. Taliban flabbergasted the world with a stunning move to take over the reins of Kabul, became the defacto rulers and, Ashraf ghani, the dejure president, flee to UAE. No doubt, the siege of Kabul was a mishap and many democratic and anarchists still mourn the act. What happened has happened now and we cannot reverse it. Its time to move on but how ? To forecast the challenges and ambience that the new Kabul regime is facing will provide us with a way out.
Primary issue to the nascent Taliban regime is to make a government that is acceptable to all the Afghan people. Making such a government will require all the stakeholders to be part of the system and thus will provoke long parleys among them. It will be of immense weight to make these deliberations conducive.
Further, Taliban is not a single organisation but rather a group of many small factions which seems difficult to unite. Evidently a consensus oriented government acceptable to all the Afghans seems a cumbersome task not only to the Talibans but also to the pro Taliban regimes of the world.
Secondly, if the Taliban succeeds in making a government, it will be arduous for them to make it recognized by the world states, especially the capitalist block, against whom the Taliban fought for the last two decades. This could be the most significant challenge because modern world is an economic world. A strong and dynamic economy requires free trade for which good relations with the great powers is a prerequisite. It has been well said in politics that “Power determines your position” and “Money is power” or, in other words, “money makes the mare go.” Thus, economy and power go hand in hand.
Thirdly, Taliban has been grown up in an ambience of violence and extremism. It is an old adage that ” Nature cannot change. ” Will the Taliban be able to soften their attitude towards the people of Afghanistan?, they being the citizens, have been adjusted to democratic setup under the governments of Karzai and Ghani. Most of the world regimes are either democratic or pseudodemocratic, depending upon their culture, attitude and, more significantly, level and system of education. The Afghans, if not all then atleast the western educated, too, will expect a democratic and public oriented government from their powerful junta. So, will the Taliban provide them with a government in which the Afghans have a loud voice even, if it is against their own wishes?
These are the few among the many challenges faced by Kabul today. However, there is something that most of the Afghanis are thirsty for and that is Peace. If the nascent Taliban regime succeeds in giving peace to its people, it will quench their thirst of the past four decades in which they saw remorseless bloodshed and barbarism, and hence, they will be ready to accept the regime with an open heart, still with slight reluctance from certain corridors.
Although, it seems quite difficult to achieve all these completely, still there is a smoulder of hope which will flame happiness in the lives of pukhtoons. A hope is hope and must be kept alive as the saying goes ” Life lasts with hope. “
Afrasiab Khan Mohmand
Lecturer (Contract) in the Dept of Political Science GDP Ekkaghund Mohmand
