Afghanistan Times
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32 years ago, Soviet troops fully withdrew from Afghanistan. What happened after that is like an open book to us all. That was also the sole reason for the civil war in the country where tens of people were killed, wounded and millions of others were forced to leave the country. The number of widows and orphans is devastating too. We inherited war, bloodshed, destruction, demolishing of our infrastructures, and the most annoying one is the establishment of the Taliban. When we failed to reunite, or to establish a comprehensive government, another group by the support of some regional countries, came to an existence, where they ruled Afghanistan, and that was the darkest era in the history of the country. Taliban totally isolated Afghanistan, and cut all the diplomatic and business relations with other sides of the world. They also banned girls from school and women from workplaces. Anyways, the frictions happen due to lacking national consensus on the formation of a new government after the Soviet troops departed. Motivation behind Jihad was to establish a system based on the will of the nation. But that did not happen. A big question is here why civil war hit the roof, failing Afghanistan to the domestic and international level. The answer is likely very much simple and that was consensus among the Afghan leaders in that time. Making the long story short, we are in the same situation now. Peace talks are being held and it’s now on the brink of collapse as the Taliban are putting down more preconditions and not sure what decision will the US take after reviewing the deal with Taliban. But still there is no consensus and no political roadmap in the talks with the Taliban from Afghan elites which is key to ending the deadly war, taking high toll on the Afghan civilians and military personnel. Unfortunately, our elites have all the time tried to preserve their narrow personal interests instead of the wider national. Today we have different voices from diverse directions in regards to the peace talks with the Taliban. We must not repeat past blunders, as there is plenty of opportunity at the moment to end the war. Once our leaders come together under one roof with a clear and solid stance, sustainable, and dignified peace with preservation of our military institutions, would be very much possible. We should advocate for such a peace where it should benefit all segments of Afghan society, including the children, women, youth, and even the smaller minorities.
