Communicate with ordinary Afghans

-
By Hanan Habibzai  
Religious-hood is an extensive thought in Afghanistan,and you can not deny the reality.
Afghans want more than
anything is for the violence
 and killing to stop.
At this time of intensification of conflict, a debate is taking place among Afghan intellectuals questioning the presence of the US and NATO in Afghanistan. This is the anti-Western sentiment that the Taliban have for long been whispering into the ears of ordinary Afghans in the villages and valleys of the restive regions. 
Those Afghans who saw their children die those who watched their women and elders in pools of blood are increasingly becoming susceptible to this type of rhetoric.  Many are in the process of changing their minds about the international troops.Military attacks carried out by foreigners and that result in the killing of civilians are an insult to Afghans’ traditions and beliefs. In many instances, when the local population accuse international forces of killing civilians, the troops deny it and often dismiss evidence provided by Afghans. Also commonly heard is that troops were targeting terrorists in a raid, even when the victims are school children, or mothers with young children.
Sadly these tragedies overshadow the killing of civilians in suicide attacks  by the Taliban – preventing the public mourning of the innocents who lose their lives in such attacks.
In 2003 and 2004, I was reporting for international media agencies on clashes between two notorious warlords in the north, Rashid Dostom and Atta Mohammad. At the time I regarded the American presence in Afghanistan as crucial for protecting the country from war criminals and for helping to bring stability to the country. But now, I have begun to lose hope. The international security forces are creating such a terrifying atmosphere that it is hard for people to sleep at night.
Afghan Taliban should be brought to the political process and should be recognised as a political entity in Afghanistan.
Traditionally, mosques are run and controlled by Mullahs and historically they have enormous impact on peoples’ opinion in Afghanistan. They are the only source who rolling the public minds .One of the most effective ways to achieve stability in Afghanistan is to win the support of Mullahs and of influential religious leaders. Religious-hood is an extensive thought in Afghanistan,and you can not deny the reality. War alone will never produce a brighter future for Afghans; it can only result in the loss of more and more lives and hopes.
You can not establish democracy by force where people widely hate the word ‘democracy. Only when the violence ebbs will the torch of democracy be lit. As long as the fear and instability spreads, as long as each family is mourning a loss, so the enmities will deepen between families and tribes, and between the US and Afghanistan. 
Communication and Negotiation is always going to be more productive than violence. There can be no doubt that what Afghans want more than anything is for the violence and killing to stop.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Afghanistan: “It’s Just Damage Limitation Now”

-
By Mark Thompson Source:  time.com   Briton Ben Anderson is a documentary filmmaker (the BBC, HBO, the Discovery Channel), but he turns to the written word in No Worse Enemy : The Inside Story of the Chaotic Struggle for Afghanistan . The book offers a gritty – and grim — assessment of the war. Anderson embedded with U.S. and British troops for months in the southern part of the country from 2007 to 2011. He details corruption, incompetence, fear — by both allied troops and Afghan civilians — and a Groundhog Day kind of existence., where a battle fought for days has to be fought again, later. Most distressingly, he argues that the American and British publics are getting a misleading picture of progress on the ground. Battleland conducted this email chat with Anderson last weekend. Why did you write No Worse Enemy: The Inside Story of the Chaotic Struggle for Afghanistan? I’d been travelling to Helmand for five years, first in 2007 with the Brits, t...
Read more

China bans a painkiller, Dextropopoxyphene

-
Image
By Hanan Habibzai Chinese authorities ordered ban on medicines that contain Dextropropoxyphene, a painkiller. The country’s drug watchdog agency warned that medicines, which have negative side effects, may create a potential threat to the life of citizens. A statement issued earlier this week by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) urged the market, the medicine should be withdrawn. The statement suggests that all companies should stop production, marketing and usage of Dextropropoxyphene, from July this year. The Dextropropoxyphene, used for decades in China, has serious toxic side effects on the heart and could be fatal in high doses, said a press release.The withdrawal will allow a safe transfer of patients to appropriate alternative therapies, the statement added. The decision is based on the outcome of both domestic and overseas research, and the instruction of Chinese experts.According to medical analysts in Europe, there have been concerns about the safety of thi...
Read more

There are non-Taliban poets in the 'Poetry of the Taliban’

-
Image
By Hanan Habibzai It is truly a matter of controversy as it appears that non-Taliban Afghan poets are presented as Taliban. It is a matter of shock to read in the Independent that Ezatullah Zawab, a permanent journalist and poet, is Taliban poet. It is still unclear how many more (non-Taliban names) are there in the ‘ Poetry of the Taliban ’. Zawab is not a Taliban but a critic of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and the continuous political and social corruption within Karzai’s government. He studied at the Nangrahar University, working as a freelance journalist since 2001 in eastern Afghanistan. His reports mainly published by IWPR and the Pajhwok Afghan News . He was among the first journalists who covered the killing of tens of civilians in June 2008 where American-led air-strike bombed a wedding convoy in Shinwari district in eastern Nangrahar province killing more than 55 civilians including the bride. Most of the victims were children and women. In the aftermat...
Read more