Afghanistan has suffered for almost half a century due to external and internal interferences that became a cradle for extremism and radicalization. Even after the US exit, the Afghans continue to suffer due to global sanctions and isolation, and their rigid behavior. The Taliban government needs to be flexible and open its mind to real-world interaction otherwise the conditions in Afghanistan will continue to deteriorate.
It has been almost half a century that Afghanistan is not being managed as a shared home of 40 million people, where the government is subject to accountability and receptive to its people, prioritizes national interests over personal ones, and has red and green lines, but has unluckily been used as system testing laboratory by invaders and battlefield for proxy fighters of the global rivals.
Afghanistan is a country that consequently to multiple external and internal factors became a cradle for extremism and radicalization. Every untraditional initiative is responded to with an extreme reaction and every extremism adventure is replaced with an even more harmful outcome.
Soviets with demonic greed to reach hot water were driven mad by the false promises of their host flatterers. They invaded Afghanistan, imposed their puppets on us, brought war equipment here, destroyed Afghanistan, and finally escaped, declaring Afghanistan as a bleeding wound.
US and NATO brought this country an era of new hostilities, titled “war on terror” by humming the songs of democracy and building better social values. They killed us, promoted extremism, committed human rights violations, breached our culture destroyed our values, disrupted regional stability, and fled away, singing achieving the objectives, while president Biden is now entitling Afghanistan as a “God-forsaken place” Nobody asked him that who forced Americans to invade that God-forsaken place, where they sacrificed thousands of US soldiers spent hundreds of billions of dollars and killed tens of thousands of Afghan citizens including women and children?
Unluckily due to external interferences, power-oriented preferences of the Politicians, and lack of national agenda، the domestic players have either used Jehadic, ethnic, sectarian, or religious cards or used external support tickets to assume power. Some of the Political adventurers tried to examine socialism, others chanted slogans for democracy, federalism, western liberalism, and a true Islamic system. All of them have proven to be pretending, as non of them have shown their capabilities in their respective theories.
The level of our patriotic pride and the standards of our commitment to the country is so low that instead of loyalty to our homeland we pursue individuals and follow the concepts of blind imitation. To resolve our internal disputes and seek out nationally interest-oriented solutions, we regrettably and unjustly expect others to support us in resolving our issues and give us a helping hand in establishing a system in our own country.
We would certainly get stuck in further catastrophic situations, economically and politically, unless we have a strong will to change our perceptions and our mentality of expecting outsiders to fix our domestic disputes for us. We should instead follow the leaders whose honesty and dedication to the interest of the country are proven and have been raised grown trained in patriotic circumstances and tested by the people.
The level of greed for power and privileges among the officials of the current ruling regime is not lower than the officials of the previous governments. Corruption is gradually emerging and rapidly spreading as a virus that destroys the spiritual roots of the ruling elite and damages their social status.
The current government’s structure and its internal and external policies do not meet the characteristics of any civilized system. If essential and urgent major steps were not taken for rectification, the ongoing catastrophic circumstances will grow even more complicated.
Ban on female education, lack of inclusiveness in government, non-existence of the necessary pillars of the state such as the legislative and independent judiciary, the discriminatory attitude of the high profile authorities, the absence of a constitution, lack of national and international legitimacy, ignoring people’s engagement in decision making and unreasonable monopolization of power are the main shortcomings of the regime and devastating for a country that is facing climate changes, natural disasters, and many other major challenges.
Failing to fulfill the commitments, the worsening economic conditions, global isolation, and the perpetuation of the current inflexible behavior, the authorities are adversely deteriorating the already worsened situations.
In addition to its religious obligatory status in Islam, education is the solution to our problems, the lifeblood of our traditional and social illnesses though. The nations who understand the importance of girls’ education concentrate on investment in this regard, not only as a vital social necessity but as spiritual, legal, and moral responsibility as well. It is the easiest way to build a social mindset, create a healthy society, reduce child mortality, manage birth rates, reduce migrating pressures and unlock economic opportunities.
Unfortunately, the previous deceptive promises of the current regime’s officials regarding girls’ education were not met yet and their leaders additionally imposed a ban on female students of the Universities as well. The announcement was responded to with anger and disappointment by the Afghans and the world community, badly harmed the spiritual aspect of the religious scholars in the society, and caused such huge damage to their popularity that its recovery might not be possible or may require decades.
Afghanistan is a vulnerable country, an ill-protected and poverty-stricken nation that can be harmed easily. We can gain nothing out of abusing others and declaring ourselves as angels. To avoid being humiliated outside of Afghanistan, at the gates of foreign embassies and the crossing points, let’s initiate changes in our attitudes, resist the hardship, confront the situations at home, focus on our shortcomings, decrease the level of our dependency on outsiders, try to take steps towards the self-sufficiency.
Afghanistan is not a private guest house of any group or individual, that would provide services according to the conceptual preferences of the owner, but a country and home of nearly 40 million Afghans. The ruling groups should behave showing their competency as public servants, not as an emperor.
If we don’t like our country to remain a battlefield for proxy wars, a diving board for invaders, an arms testing laboratory, the private property of rulers, and the most corrupt and the worst passport-issuing country in the world, we should utilize every opportunity to raise the public educational level to save us from calamities and disasters, practice harmony, advocate toleranceØŒ promote the culture of Jirgas and enhance public awareness.
It is easy for aggressors and power-hungry dictators to rule over an illiterate and emotional society and their every illegal decree can easily be justified. Everything can be inflicted on them and their raising voices against any misbehavior of them can be easily muted.
Our dreams for a peaceful and peace-loving, stable, and progressive Afghanistan will never be realized unless we reassess the characteristics of ideal leadership, the honesty, patriotic feelings and capabilities of our political leaders, ideological affiliations, dedication, and nature of their commitment to national interests.
