The moment when I'm writing this blog is not a time to cherish. It is a time to feel devastated, restless and tired. I'm 24 and my generation has never seen something brutal like this. Pictures are coming from the streets of Kabul. Millions of people are trying to flee. Their restless and scared faces trying to hold the wheels of an aeroplane moving from Kabul. Children have lost their playgrounds. Men and Women are often moving here and there to find a solution. Some are crying. Some have accepted their fate of getting ruled by the some groups of radical islamist preachers, the Taliban. They have taken Kabul. They have taken Afghanistan.
However, I'm not here to describe the entire situation with words. As a student of political science, some questions haunt me more than describing something with words? How has the situation arrived? Who needs to be blamed? What are the roles and responsibilities of the forces, staying alert to protect the entire international security? How has the situation of a country drastically changed within a few years? These questions haunt me a lot.
Hence to get all the answers, one must introspect into history. Afghanistan was never a homeland to the bunch of islamist terrorists. Yes, it was always a turbulent land. Political turbulence was always at the top of the country. But preaching of radical islamist ideas? Never. Instead Afghanistan saw huge participation of women on the streets. In the era of late 70's Afghanistan became a hotbed of international politics. It was probably the second last phase of the cold war, when the People Democratic Party ( PDP) tried a coup d'etat against the then American stooge Daoud government.
The coup had huge support from all sections of the people. Internationally the People's Democratic Party, which led the coup, had Soviet Backing. Internally, the party had huge public support. People, especially a huge section of Afghani women participated in support of the Coup. Women before the PDP government were taken out of politics and it was the Soviet backed PDP which promised women participation in politics and other affairs. Not only this, but also PDP promised redistribution of wealth, havoc land reforms, rapid investment on education and most importantly a secular and progressive structure.
Above all the party and the country had Soviet support. The Soviet did everything possible for a politically turbulent middle-east country. Children were gifted with computers. Women enjoyed their liberation, and had their important contribution to recreate a dismantled Afghan society. Both Men and Women had their roofs over their heads. In the 80's Afghanistan used to be a place once could only dream.
But their glorious days did not last long. The US Imperialists did not stay calm and enjoy the show. The PDP government had immense public support. Hence it was impossible for the US to inaugurate another Coup to overthrow the PDP regime. Hence they took another root. A root of using religious extremist groups to dismantle the Soviet backed government.
There was one more state which contributed to the entire saga. Since its birth as a muslim country, Pakistan always had immense debts from the US. The US always backed them, and in the 80's Pakistan got their Payback time. The county was under an autocratic islamist ruler called General Zia-Ul-Haque. The process of Islamisation started to take place in the country. Each and every institution adapted islamic rules and laws. Islamic education over western values started to get implemented in schools. Madrassas started to pop up in a large manner. Countrymen had islam oriented livestyles. Non-Muslim minorities became second class citizens. Zia had an evil companion in this entire matter. His name was Mawlana Maududi. A fierce sunni islamist preacher and founder of Jamat-E-Islami.
In the 80's Pakistan had to step up as a key player in the international periphery. Hence, they chose the Afghan saga to express their supremacy in South Asia. With the help of the American money and efforts from Mr. Mawdudi, Pakistan started to provide a group of religious islamic fighters called Mujahideens. Mawdudi and his party had huge connections among the Muhajirs ( Muslim refugees coming from India). With the help of money and arms from the US, Jamat started to train these Muhajirs for a global islamic battle against the Soviet. They coined the term 'Liberation War'. In actuality, it was never a liberation war. It was a war for the Islamic conservatism against the progressive and prospered modernity of the Soviet.
In the mid 80's the US created a frankenstein called Osama Bin Laden. Many leading US newspapers, Laden was termed as an anti-soviet liberation war. The US was successful in terms of branding Soviet as anti-islam. Since the late 80's Afghanistan became the hotbed of bloodshed war. The Soviet army with the help of the Afghan government started to prevent Mujaheedens at any cost. In the early 90's the Soviet got dismantled. Three years before this, the Soviet withdrew their army from the country. They had no other options. In 1992, a coup by the Mujahideen took the power from the last Afghan president Najibullah and Afghanistan met their destiny.
The US vouched for another option with the Mujahideen. With the help of Saudi Arabia's money, they created another islamic group called Taliban. In local words, it means 'Students/Disciples.' The Taliban and Mujahideen both joined hands to combat against the Soviet and PDP. In 1996, the Taliban took control over Kabul. Najibullah was killed and for the first time Afghanistan had an islamic rule.
Today, the Taliban are back. Let me summarise with the question I asked at the top. Who is to be blamed. I hope you got the answer.
