AFGHANISTAN POLLS & AFTER 

Pro-Peace Constituency Has to Assert

  Harkishan Singh Surjeet

BY the time we write these lines, the people of Afghanistan had cast their votes in the first election after a long gap and the results were awaited. Though preliminary results may be expected in a few days after sealed ballot boxes from 23,000 polling booths reach 8 regional headquarters, reports are that a final count may not come in before at least two weeks. And that too may be expected only if any one out of some 16 contestants for the presidential post crosses the 50 per cent mark, thus nullifying the need of a second round. In case one of the candidates fails to achieve a clear majority support, the outcome may not be known before November 6.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE POLL

THE election process is being supervised by the Joint Electoral Management Body, a UN-Afghan organisation. It is widely believed that inexperienced staff, inaccessible terrain and the chaos the nation finds itself in after a quarter century of civil wars are the major factors making the smooth conduct of the whole process a major challenge. Sporadic violence was reported on the polling eve and one US base in the country was also hit by a rocket. Though it was widely believed that it was the handiwork of ousted Taliban fundamentalists, it failed to influence the popular mood in any significant manner.

Be that as it may, the very fact that the hitherto war-torn country has gone to vote, is in itself a matter of no small significance. There does remain the fact that US imperialists are keenly watching the poll process from the wings, as they want that the acting president Hamid Karzai should win the election. But even that cannot rob the election of its significance.

And the reason for it is simple: the people of Afghanistan have got wary of the constant civil war and want a regime of peace in order to concentrate on reconstruction. As an elderly bearded person from Kabul was reported saying, “This election will not be an ideal one, but people need to participate and choose who they want.” Though acknowledging that security was a big concern, he added that “this will be a great day. I will vote. I’m optimistic that an elected government can improve people’s lives” (The Asian Age, October 9). This indeed sums up the expectations the people have from these polls.

Similarly, while telling that he had come “to vote so that we can have democracy and stability and peace,” a shopkeeper put his finger on the weak spot itself: “There used to be only a transfer of power by force or killing” (Hindustan Times, October 10). It is clear that Afghans are anxious to have a peaceful life and that makes democracy, or even a modicum of it, far more preferable to them compared to civil war. This explains why the Taliban’s call for a boycott failed to have any impact on the people and why the remnants of the Taliban regime were forced to keep low during the whole poll process. The people’s urge for peace had been so great that the observers’ recommendation for a postponement of elections had had no takers.

Another significance of this poll is that it has the potential to influence the course of world events to an extent. If a Times of India report on October 9 is to be believed, in the US “it has been decided that if a clear winner emerges from Saturday’s voting, the name would be declared on October 30, in time to reap benefits for the US polls on November 2.” The indication is that it is the Bush poll prospect that will brighten if Karzai emerges winner.

US GUILTY FOR THE HELL

HOWEVER, to be true to facts, it is the US imperialism that is squarely responsible for the living hell in which the country currently finds itself. After the Saur revolution of 1979, when a progressive government led by Noor Muhammad Taraki came to power in Kabul, it was the US that refused to honour the Afghan people’s will and violated the UN charter that the people of any country have the sovereign right to decide as to what type of economic and political system they want to have. The fact is that the United States has been interested in Afghanistan since the very beginning of the Cold War, in controlling Afghanistan in order to encircle the USSR. Moreover, the US idea has always been to get a foothold in this area that lies in the centre of the earth, from where it could threaten not only the USSR but also the People’s Republic of China, India, Iran and a host of other countries.

This was the reason that after the Saur revolution the US stepped up its violent intervention in the country manifold and even engineered a clash between the Khalq and Parcham constituents of the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which culminated in the dastardly assassination of Taraki. The deteriorating situation forced the PDPA government to seek Soviet help to stabilise the situation and save the country from a counter-revolution.

The bourgeois-imperialist media that never tire of condemning the so-called “Soviet intervention” in Afghanistan simply refuse to see any US intervention in the country for the purpose of ousting the PDPA from power. To them, evidently, any distortion or ignoring of facts is justified if the bourgeois-imperialist interests are at stake.

USA’S ALLY IN THE REGION

THE most loyal ally of American imperialists in their war against the PDPA regime was General Ziaul-Haque’s government of Pakistan. The most notorious aspect of this military government was that it had itself come to power by forcibly overthrowing an elected government and hanging its prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to death. To recall a bit more of history here, it was the same General Ziaul-Haque who had in 1970 led a big Pakistani contingent to Jordan and killed tens of thousands of Palestinian freedom fighters there.

Therefore, it was simply too much to expect from the Ziaul-Haque government that it would in any way respect the Afghan people’s will. So it was not surprising that the Ziaul-Haque regime went too far to act as the USA’s lackey and fight the latter’s war against the PDPA government of Afghanistan. Thus, through the medium of the Ziaul-Haque government, the US poured arms and ammunition worth billions of dollars into Afghanistan and also helped Pakistan through material and monetary aid as well as diplomatic support. So much so that former US president Ronald Reagan waived on more than one occasion the restrictions imposed by the Pressler amendment on giving aid to Pakistan for its (then secret but widely suspected) nuclear weapons programme. 

Ziaul-Haque’s professed (but American motivated) jihad against the “infidel Soviets” also adopted a particular tactic whose legacy is still haunting us. This was the tactic of what came to be called the “proxy war,” for which the so-called Mujahideen were armed to the teeth to fight the Soviet army. Though the tactic was first adopted against the PDPA regime of Afghanistan, in a matter of only a few years it was being used against India --- first in Punjab and then in Jammu & Kashmir. Even if this low cost war against India promised no victory to Pakistan, it was meant to give India a severe headache. It was with this aim that even after the general’s death in a plane crash, successive Pakistani regimes continued this tactic, though there has been some let-up in terrorist depredations in recent times. 

In order to earn the Americans’ goodwill, the Ziaul-Haque regime went so far as to ignore all the depredations being perpetrated by Afghan terrorists (so-called Mujahedeen) on its own soil. At one time Karachi, the biggest city of Pakistan, was home to more than a million Afghan terrorists who were virtually the harbingers of what came to be known as “narco-terrorism.” From here these terrorists spread their narcotics trade far and wide, and here they periodically engaged in gun running also, killing not only the members of rival Afghan groups but also the Pakistani nationals. In those days, not a single Karachi resident could ever be sure of the safety of his or his relatives’ life. Yet, the Zia regime did not lift a finger to curb the activities of these mercenary groups. On the other hand, despite their profession of fighting the drug trade worldwide, like their later profession of fighting terrorism worldwide, nor did the Americans say a single word against the Afghan groups that were engaged in narcotics trade and gun running. 

WORLD OPINION HAS TO ASSERT

IT was thus the congenital hatred of American imperialists for communism, and their vengeful desire to overthrow the PDPA regime from Kabul, that made the life of a common Afghan an unending nightmare. Later, how the then US-controlled UNO deceived the Afghanistan president Dr Najibullah into abdicating power and taking shelter in the UN mission in Kabul, how the various Mujahideen groups came to form a ragtag alliance in order to form a government under Burhanuddin Rabbani, how they soon began to fight among themselves and how the US-backed Taliban then overthrew the Rabbani government and also overran the UN mission to get hold of Dr Najibullah and hanged him by an electric poll, how the events then turned the Taliban themselves against the US, how the US launched a war against Afghanistan in October 2001 on the plea that the ruling Taliban were in league with the Al Qaeda that had perpetrated the 9/11 crime --- all these are well known facts of contemporary history and need no elaboration here.  

The US war against Afghanistan was then followed by the installation of an interim government in Kabul, led by Hamid Karzai. But Karzai has since ruled the country only in the shadow of the Americans, so much so that he could not venture out without his American bodyguards and could not reach several provinces for poll campaign. Moreover, polls were held in the country only after three years of the Karzai government’s installation though it was originally decided that they would be held in a year after a Loya Jirgah met to decide the future course including the poll process.

Yet, the same Americans who made the life of the Afghanistan people a hell, want to have a pliant government in Kabul, and Washington, to quote Hindustan Times again, is “still the most powerful player in Afghanistan.” But this move needs to be viewed in conjunction with the US hegemonic drive in the unipolar world of today and in conjunction with the NATO expansion in recent years even though the stated need of this war alliance has disappeared after the end of the Cold War. There also remains the danger that other contenders, who remain dissatisfied with the conduct of the polls, may again take up arms and that may give the Americans yet another chance to intervene. This will be the main concern of the peace loving people of the world after Afghanistan comes to have an elected government.

This underlines the need of the peace loving popular opinion around the globe to assert itself and demand that Washington must pull itself out of the country, giving the Afghan people a chance to decide their future themselves. Apart from the United Nations, a body like the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), of which Afghanistan has always been an important member, is best suited to give voice to the world people’s urge in favour of peace.

There is also scope for countries like India, individually, to play an important role in the country. Except during the five-year interregnum of Taliban rule in Kabul, Afghanistan has always been a trusted ally of India and the latter can do much in the reconstruction of the unfortunate country. India has already done something worthwhile in this regard in the last three years, but it has to step up its reconstruction work manifold, particularly in areas like infrastructure, health, education and the like. This is more so because not only Karzai but also most of his opponents profess to be friendly to India. The PDPA government of Afghanistan had once applied for SAARC membership though no decision was taken about it at that time. The country’s inclusion into this regional forum may also be considered afresh. In sum, the comity of nations has to explore all such options as may give Afghanistan a chance and capacity to pursue the path of independent development and regain its position of honour in the world. For, what is at stake in this part of the world is not only the fate of Afghan people but also the future of world peace.                                                     

October 11, 2004