US forces withdrawal from Bagram Air Bases, the longtime staging ground for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, effectively ending America’s longest war is a positive step towards enduring peace in the country. The complete withdrawal of US forces will take place on 31st August 2021 confirmed by the President Joe Biden.
It would be quite rational if Washington restrain intervention in Afghanistan’s internal matters once it troops are completely withdrawn from the country else its Afghan people who will stand to pay the ultimate price.
The United States and the international community have been signaling that it is now up to the people of Afghanistan to decide their future as history has seen the failure of Afghan government and international partners in achieving stability in Afghanistan over the last two decades.
It is solely the domain of Afghan people now to decide their future. President Biden on Thursday in his speech from White House also said that US forces attained all its goals in Afghanistan by killing Osama Bin Laden, degrading Al- Qaeda and preventing future attacks on USA. Mr. Biden reaffirmed his decision of not sending another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan and Afghan people alone should determine their future as United States did not go there with the intention of nation-building. This is a very encouraging development to recognize that the fate of Afghanistan belongs to her people.
Time has arrived for “an independent, democratic, and sovereign Afghan state without the involvement of foreign allies, continuation of the war in Afghanistan assumes that Afghans are incapable of managing their own affairs.
The U.S withdrawal from Afghanistan is a fragile window of opportunity to settle the world’s deadliest conflict.
The future stability of Afghanistan primarily depends on the reconciliation process of Kabul government with the Afghan Taliban and its success. Taliban reservations must be addressed. Taliban feels betrayed for halfhearted attempts at initiating peace by Afghan government in past which they felt were based on rhetoric and empty words.
For the peace process to succeed, all sides will have to display immense patience, maturity and openness to accommodate each other’s views to evolve a process of settling down its own political issues amicably without relying on any foreign assistance.
If there is peace in Afghanistan, there will be tranquility in entire Asia. But if there is chaos in Afghanistan, there will be disorder in the entire Asia.
Western media houses and India unleashing the propaganda that after complete withdrawal of US forces, Afghanistan will descend into a civil war and once again become a safe haven of international terrorism and Launchpad for attacks by Al Qaeda and ISIS.
This is just an absurd and baseless propaganda as Taliban have shown lot of constraint and maturity in disarming its groups to defeat ISIS which is being patronized by India to deteriorate the situation both in Afghanistan and Middle East. Taliban successfully launched 2 weeks military operation against ISIS in Nangarhar province to rout the group from Afghanistan.
There is a strong need to dispel another absurd propaganda against the Taliban that they are women rights violators or abusers. Taliban never resists women to work or earn but they oppose co-educational system and removal of head scarfs or duppatas at work place to intact the integrity of the Muslim women and to prevent them from harassment. Taliban chief negotiator Mullah Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanakzai expressed the same views about women rights “Islam has given women all fundamental rights, such as business and ownership, inheritance, education, work, choosing one’s husband, security, health and right to good life.” However, he added, “If the world thinks we give the women the rights America or the West gives to them, this is not congruent with the culture and tradition and our religion and it only ruin the sanctity of the womanhood.”
Western world, India and USA only want to prevent Taliban to establish an Islamic state in Afghanistan which may be an alternative to the corrupt and manipulative Western democratic system, a rotten system which was imposed on Muslims during post-colonial era.
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani’s recent visit to United States was nothing but to persuade and seek assurance from foreign troops for continuation of the air strikes and military support to Afghan government so as to supersede the Taliban to take over the power in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has experienced various systems of governance: monarchy, republic, dictatorship, theocracy, and democracy under at least seven different constitutions in 100 years of its independence. The rapid changes of power in Afghanistan leadership via assassinations, coups, forced exiles, civil wars, and international interventions has turned the country into a weaker and turmoil like state,
The history of power struggle suggests that peace and stability in the country could be guaranteed through practical and endogenous socio-political governance structure that is not susceptible to foreign interference at all.