Killing of Rabbani and peace process after him

September 22, 2011 (KABUL)

It was the first day of three days' national morning in Kabul, the Capital of Afghanistan on Thursday in connection with sad killing of Professor Rabbani.

Former President (1992-1996), Veteran Jihadi Leader, Head of Jamiat-e-Islami and Head of High Peace Council (HPC) Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani was killed on Tuesday evening (20 September).

According to media reports, two persons were brought by Masoom Stanikzai, a close associate of Rabbani and member of HPC, for negotiations with Rabbani.

One of those persons had explosive material in his Turban which was not checked by security forces. Soon after their meeting started, that person exploded himself. One associate of assassin was arrested. Stanikzai remained injured and now in stable condition.

Supporters of Rabbani had protested at several places and some of his associates had claimed for revenge, an old tradition of Afghan society.

Rabbani had a long history of political struggle. After fall of Nejeeb regime, he was elected as President of troubled Afghanistan and held the position till 1996.

When Hamid Karazai was nominated as President in first Bonn conference in December 2001, he opposed Karzai and created a grand opposition of former Jihadi parties and other political groups.

He was elected as member of Lower House (Wolesi Jirga) in first parliamentary elections while not contested those elections in second term.

He was nominated as HPC, a platform made for peace talks the anti government militants, by Karzai last year.

As a head of HPC and respected leader of the country, Rabbani had worked so much for bringing militants to negotiation table. He travelled to various parts of the country including Pakistan and Iran for support.

There was no apparent opposition to peace talks with Taliban when he was there and most of the people of Afghanistan were hopeful of that process. But after Rabbani that hope might not remain at that level, beside the fact that peace is an ultimate desire of all Afghans.

Peace talks with the Taliban were said to be at a positive stage and HPC was in touch with several militant groups and Rabbani's death has certainly reversed the peace process.

Although everyone is blaming Taliban for the killing but Taliban had not said anything regarding the incident. They have a regular practice that they immediately contact journalists or issue statement after every incident.

According to some political experts, Taliban's silence means to avoid any great reaction or crisis in the country.

Peace process at that level and speed was not in larger interests of certain elements which wanted war in the country.

First of all, peace talks was feared to brought division to Taliban as certain militant groups were in contact with HPC. It might be not acceptable to them to be divided at any cost.

On the other hand, Rabbani had said several times that if peace prevailed and they succeeded in peace talks with militants, they would not need the foreign forces in the country. Demand of withdrawal of foreign forces with peace and unity might be very effective.

No matter who is responsible for the killing, the later might be the best way to tackle the growing problems of the 32 years war shattered country.

The damage caused is very big but hope is there as Afghans are still looking forward for peace, even with more dedication and spirit.

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Environment: Deforestation dilemma

In late 19th century, British forces made their advance towards the Afghanistan bordering areas. These are now part of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP) areas called Pakhtoonkhwa. The Royal Army was facing serious resistance especially at the main road, known as Pak-Afghan Highway. The tribesmen used the forests over the Hills as cover in the Landi Kotal area. For several years the British forces remained ineffective striking the local, untrained force.

In order to tackle the problem, the Government of British India decided to survey the area and adopt a method for the durable solution and future advancement towards the State of Afghanistan. The Government of India was told about the critical financial situation of the area and the poverty of tribesmen. Therefore it was decided to increase the price of wood, in the local market of Peshawar.

The price hike attracted local residents and soon the sale of valuable wood started. They used donkeys for carrying wood over almost 50 kilometres. The strategy worked very effectively as local residents had found a good source of income. Some of these wood-sellers had purchased land in the settled areas and the famous tribes of Afridi and Shinwari lived on that land for their third generation.

Cutting wood and bringing it to Peshawar for sale built momentum and soon the nearby mountains were cleaned from trees. Soon the effects of deforestation were witnessed: Sabir Afridi, 65, a local elder from Landi Kotal does not remember any forests over the mountains of his native area, but quoting his tribal forefathers, he admits that there were trees over there.

Almost all the mountains in surrounding areas of Khyber Agency like Tirah Valley are, even today, covered with forests. Even smaller places like Zayaray have trees. It is only the mountains near the Pak-Afghan Highway that are stripped of foliage, which means that the story told by the tribesmen was true.

The question is why did the British Indian government avoid mentioning this matter in their Working Plans conducted on a regular basis in almost all the areas? This has a very simple answer: that it was intentionally avoided.

According to Muhammad Ashraf, an officer of Forest Institute Peshawar, there is no doubt that all the mountains were naturally suitable for forestry. This confirms the opinion that the mountains of Landi Kotal area had forests.

Interestingly, almost all the research and history books, written at that time, are silent on this subject. We have proof of different kinds of plants and trees grown in the area but no finding about their destruction. (The Library of Forest Institute Peshawar University was searched thoroughly but found useless.)

It is unfortunate that the authorities of British Raj might have ignored this fact intentionally, as they had left behind a lot of research material and working plans of Forestry in almost all the areas they ruled in.

Even after more than 60 years of independence, the government of Pakistan has overlooked the area and has not made a plan for the growth of trees over that particular area. Most of the local tribesmen would like to see the revival of forestry over the mountains of Tehsil Landi Kotal along with the Pak-Afghan Highway, for which they have no resources. Rokhan Afridi, a young man, like other Tribesmen from the area, is enthusiastic regarding the restoration of forestation in his area.

A proper survey by the experts in the relevant field could identify the kind of plantation possible or easily grown in that area. This could result in one of the most beautiful places in the world, supported by a rich history alongside it.

(Published in The DAWN news)

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/in-paper-magazine/magazine/deforestation-dilemma-170

Role of a common man in decision making

An ordinary person plays a very vital and key role in the history of development of a state. If an ordinary or common man of a region has enough knowledge of politics, war, economy and global situation etc, then it became much easier for a nation to decide many bold and just decisions.

Unluckily, the masses from the third world were never allowed or dragged to take part in the decision making process and as a result the unpopular and a small group of privileged class has the whole task in its hands. This fact plays a substantial role in the history of those nations and after all the common man has to suffer all the agony and miseries, not the ruling-class or decision makers.   

Like many other developing states both Pakistan and Afghanistan have the very same problem from the beginning.

There are three factors involved in both the states in our recent history and these are the External Powers, the Internal Powers (governments) and the Common Men, which could brought the change in. The reasons they have not done it yet, are both intentionally and unintentional. Both the External and Internal Powers are responsible for their intentional omission while the Common man for unintentional one. The power game and greed for more and more always prevented the former two powers, to involved common man in decision making process while the later has no sense for taking part or in other words never find a way to participate.  

Decision making has three levels, which are the local, national and international. It has two forms; one is participation in any field of society such as a political party, a non-governmental organization, trade or labour unions etc, while the second is representation in legislature, federal or provincial governments and international organizations like Unites Nations, World Trade Organization etc. 

The answer, to the question that why a common man in the third world has not enough capacity to participate in the decision making process, is that the decision makers, politicians and the high ranked government officials never wanted to allow them to do so. They feared that if ordinary people stand in front of them, then he would ask for his rights and about the omissions on their part. So the common man is almost unaware of his rights as a whole.

Besides that the educational systems certainly play a vital role. Richer countries typically have better educational systems as compared to the under developed or poor nations. By the way of education a common man can understand the facts, traps and problems around him. In some cultures, parents and the society put more value on education than in the others and that is why some of the societies are advanced while others are less.

In our daily life, one can measure the degree to which, the individual members of a society value the common man through a simple indicator and it is the road traffic. 

When a large number of participants of a society in road traffic want to give way to the others because it makes sense for traffic flow overall, it means that they uphold the common good against individual advantages. Contrary to that a me-first attitude, even at red lights has the other story. Traffic chaos indicates little respect for the common good, as well as the inability of the authorities to implement rules of the common good against me-first traffic participants.

Now if we compare the flow of traffic and the attitude of individuals on roads in Europe and United States, Japan, South Korea with the situation most of African States and of course in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the picture will be much clearer.

What will then an ordinary person do, in order to have a better position in his society and participate in the decision making process with full enthusiasm? The answer is simple one while the action is as much as difficult at the same time. The basic thing is the awareness.  If a person is aware of his power as a common man in his society then he will be able to utilise his abilities. That mind set might be considered as the very first step in this regard.

The second most important thing is to get rid of the attitude of “leave it”. Most of the people in third world have the same attitude towards their participation in societies. The reason for this attitude is the problems of earning their livings. But it’s a temporary get-rid type of thing, but in fact it is there in most cases.

These and other mentioned problems must be addressed by the common man, without looking at the elite or ruling classes, otherwise there will be no change in near or far future of next generations.

The Problem Of Internally Displaced Persons in Pakistan

Thousand of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are returning from various camps to their home towns in war affected areas of Swat, Dir, Malakand and Buner etc.

Most of the rehabilitation process has been done but still some of the IDPs are in camps. Pakistan Army operations are completed in almost 90 per cent of those areas, and only search operations will be carried out in the remaining some places.

The IDPs are returning home amid fears in their minds and reservations over law and order situation , but it has a certain reason behind it and that is in fact there is no substitute for home, while in case of camps its certainly not.

Although they were provided basic facilities by the people and the government and of course by the help of international community, but everything was impossible to be provided in the camps at the same time too.

The matter of IDPs is one the worst human crisis in the world as millions of persons were displaced from their homes and had no option other than to live their life of Refugees in the camps in their own country.

The situation in those camps was worst. People were hungry. Because of the curfew there was a shortage of food. They were running out of stored food items. But they were at risk every time they go out as they might be targeted by the Taliban or the army.

There were many Taliban commanders in their village. Their intelligence was so good, they know what they discuss in our homes.

Many persons were slaughtered in Mingora city. Their dead bodies were left on the road for four days and nobody handed it over to their parents.

Among the IPDs a girl was telling her story, “A militant group from a nearby village, all of them young boys, used to come to our girls' college to intimidate the girls. They were checking the faces of girls and were saying things like "I love you" and similar nonsense. One day this group tortured a female school teacher.

I wanted to complete an MBA course. Now the colleges are closed, schools are destroyed, education is impossible. Women can't even go out on the streets any more.

I know who the local Taliban are. I know them personally. Some of them are my distant relatives. A friend of mine works for the police here and he knows them too, but he can't do anything. The ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] targeted and destroyed the police force structure, clearing ground for Taliban activities.

In the past, when people have come forward with the details of Taliban they know, they have been betrayed.

So I don't know who we can trust with that information now.

Everybody here is against the Taliban. But for me there is a big question mark over the dedication of the Pakistani army.

The Taliban have their own FM radio station. How come they can be traced by foreign media to give interviews, but they can't be traced and killed by the Pakistani army?

Mingora city is under Taliban control. What is the army doing about it?”