Author: Ashish Kumar Rai, III year of B.Tech(Mechanical engineering) from NIT Bhopal.
No one ever thought that a day like this will appear in 21st century when the whole world will witness the takeover of a democratic sovereign nation by a terrorist organization. How the tables have turned in Afghanistan can be easily witnessed with the fact that the terrorists who were once sanctioned as most wanted by the UNSC & huge sum of dollars were associated with their names, all of them will now lead the central government in Afghanistan, holding various different Ministries. The fact that taliban is one of the world's most dangerous terrorist organization & now it has completely taken over a country raises some serious questions on the existence & essence of world organizations like UN & UNHRC.
Afghanistan:- The freedom loving tribe
If you closely examine the modern history of Afghanistan, you'll get to know that the Afghan tribe is the one which prefers to live on its own terms. The conundrum started with the 1st Anglo-Afghan war during 1838-42 with Britishers aiming to consolidate their position in Central Asia so that they can possess challenge to the growing power of Soviet Union & safeguard their territories. The immediate result of the war was establishment of puppet rule by British on the throne of Afghanistan, but soon afterwards the people of Afghanistan rose into rebellion & threw off the yoke of British rule. Four decades later, the 2nd Anglo-Afghan war happened, bearing the same consequences (the uprising of Afghan tribe happened again) and finally it was the 3rd Anglo-Afghan war which decided the fate of Britishers & they were forces to let free Afghanistan. Then came the cameo of USSR into Afghanistan, during 1970's aiming to sustain its influence over Afghanistan but it was the disintegration of USSR in 1991 along with the rise of taliban which carved the way out of Afghanistan for Russia too. All these episodes make one thing clear that the Afghan tribe can't be sustained under one's hold for long.
Rise of taliban during 1990's
The fall of USSR in 1990's saw the rise of taliban and this marked the beginning of an era having no place for human rights & world order. After the 9/11 attack on the world trade center in New York, USA started its war on terror in 2001 & this marked the beginning of an era which lasted for two long decades & it took the lives of thousands of innocents and in return it gave us what? The takeover of a democratic nation by a terrorist organization?
20 years of time & more than $2 trillion dollars of money, this is the cost that America paid to sustain its decades long war on terror. But the question here arises that how was taliban able to counter USA's attack for 20 years straight? The fact that USA is the most advanced military in terms of technology is well-known to all of us! So, it is clear that there must be some force behind taliban which supplemented them with the required amount of money, weapons as well as intelligence to carry forward their resistance against the superpower. Also, behind the stage friendship of Pakistan as well as its terrorist organizations such as Al-queda & Lashkar-ae-taiba with taliban is not a confidential thing anymore. So, if all these facts are for real then shouldn't this be questioned to America that, was it really a good decision to launch their War On Terror in Afghanistan and not in Pakistan? Afterall, their main target & mastermind of 9/11 terror attack was also shot dead in Pakistan and not in Afghanistan.
USA'S betrayal to Afghan's?
"Our mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to have been nation building. It was never supposed to be creating a unified, centralized democracy."
Can u believe that this is the statement give by the president of the oldest running democracy in the world. After spending 20 years & trillions of dollars on a mission, suddenly you decide to roll-back all your forces & that too in a no planned manner, the result of which is now been seen by the world as a man-made disaster with people clinging upon the wings of taking-off Airplanes.
Now the question arises, could there have been a more better or more planned way of retrieval of US forces from Afghanistan by the means of which this catastrophe of human rights could have been avoided? The answer to this question is YES! There could have been a more elaborated phase wise withdrawal of US forces. The US forces should must have stayed inside Afghanistan until the negotiations between Afghan government & taliban would have been succeeded, they should also have tried to include women's inside the new negotiated Afghan government to ensure better future for women's of Afghanistan.
With the declaration of withdrawal of USA military from Afghanistan, the world saw the rise & triumph of a terrorist organization day by day, capturing a new province every single day. One big question arises here too, Why did the Afghan army surrendered so easily? Do all the training, ammunition and modern warfare that they got from America in last 20 years went in vain? Now the people of Afghanistan as well as the whole world wants to know why did the Afghan army as well as there high command betrayed their Nation?
Where the future lies for Afghanistan
From being the land of Buddhist monks to being the ring for the tussle between superpowers and finally becoming an abode of terrorist organization, this is the cost that people of Afghanistan are paying just because they allowed greater interference of other countries into their internal matters. Now, when Afghanistan is on the wedge of being ruled by a terrorist organization, the Afghan people don't know where there future lies and what this so called 'Modern Tabliban' holds in their bag for women's. The scary flashback of Taliban's rule in Afghanistan back then in 1990's & their ruthless behavior towards the women can be never be erased from the memory of Afghan's and it was only the result of this remembrance that thousands of Afghan's wanted to leave their motherland the moment taliban captured their capital Kabul. The modern taliban of 2021 now knows pretty well how to handle media & is now mastering the art of spreading fake propaganda of it's modernity around the globe through the help of its spokespersons and IT cells
India's stand on Taliban's takeover
From sending medical supplies to building 'Salma dam', from gifting helicopters to building hospitals, India has always been a kind & helpful neighbor to Afghanistan. It was in 2001, when India started it's long drawn romance with humanitarian investment in Afghanistan. India has invested around $3 billion (Rs224 crore) in Afghanistan’s infrastructure, which includes over 400 projects across all provinces in the country. These projects are largely around infrastructure, human resource development and capacity building, humanitarian assistance, community development, and enhancing trade through air and land connectivity. So, all of these stats say a lot about India's relations with Afghanistan & its people.
"India had only invested in the friendship of Afghan people and was sure that it would get full value of its investment in Afghanistan."
This statement given by the External affairs Minister S Jaishankar elaborates the fact that India is still standing strongly with the people & development of Afghanistan. With regards to the formation of Taliban's government in Afghanistan, India's statement to UNSC stressed India's call for an inclusive dispensation in Afghanistan which should necessarily represent all sections of Afghan society. Also, India's recent bilateral & multilateral talks on Afghanistan’s crisis with Russia, BRICS & other groups made this thing clear that this time around, India's not gonna watch sitting silently rather it'll play a progressively active role in shaping the world politics.
In the end, it can be concluded that extreme politicization and interference of foreign entities into the internal matters of a nation can completely ruin the social structure of a country which in turn can take the shape of such man-made disaster, the living example of which we all are witnessing as Afghanistan.