The Question of Stability
Do The Taliban Hold Keys To Stability In Afghanistan? An Interview With Maulana Abdul Hakim Mujahid
Maulana Abdul Hakeem Mujahid is the U.S. representative for the unrecognized leadership of the Taliban. Mujahid is well versed in Islamic Studies and Political Science. He has a Masters degree in Islamic Studies from Peshawar University and a B.A. in Political Science from the Islamic University for Science & Technology in Peshawar. His political activism began in 1979, when he joined Harakati-Inqilabi-Islami-Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. He has served as a diplomat at the Afghan Consulate in Peshawar. In 1993, he participated in an Afghan delegation to Geneva that worked with Pakistan and the United Nations to discuss repatriation of Afghan refugees. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan appointed him “permanent representative” to the United Nations in 1996, although the United Nations does not recognize the Taliban.
Landmines: Costly Aftermath Of War In Afghanistan
Long after treaties are signed, institutions are built and a new peaceful state emerges in Afghanistan, landmines will remain in the ground, quietly waiting for the next victim, leaving kilometers of land unproductive and uninhabited. Two decades of war and internal conflict has left an estimated 5 to 7 million anti-personnel landmines in Afghanistan, making the country one of the most heavily mine-affected countries in the world. Some as small as a can of shoe polish, anti-personnel landmines are designed to wait for a victim and can remain active for decades. The socio-economic impact of landmines is the most devastating aftermath of the conflict in Afghanistan. Landmines are placed indiscriminately in rural and urban areas. Roads, irrigation systems, agricultural and grazing lands are affected long after war ends. Repatriation of refugees is seriously affected if not impossible because of the presence of landmines. Fertile farming land can remain untouched by the local community if even one landmine is thought to exist in the area.
Taliban In Search Of A Vision?
The responsibilities of statecraft and diplomacy seem to be overwhelming to the Taliban, who have much to learn about the dynamics of world politics and state building. They seem to be caught between the competing demands of living up to their own rhetoric to create an Islamic state and to act judiciously in the interests of Afghanistan. The two forces that are tugging the Taliban can be best described as self-interest and national interest, or what is good for the Taliban versus what is good for Afghanistan.
The Taliban And Pakistan
Inhabitants of South Asia have long been interested in events in Afghanistan. Long before the former Soviet Union attempted to “aid” Afghanistan on its path to socialism in hopes of fulfilling its desire for a “warm-water port” either in Iran or Pakistan, Afghanis maintained the mystique of an unconquerable people. The Mongols had tried and failed. The British Raj concluded it was better to equate the fair-skinned, mountain-dwelling, and sometimes blue-eyed, residents of Afghanistan as akin to themselves (after all, how could the mighty British be defeated by Orientals?) and romanticize humiliating defeats (e.g. The Charge of the Light Brigade) in order to justify continued failed military adventures in the region.
Iran’s Foreign Relations With Afghanistan
The main seat of power in Iran is not the President but the Majlis, Council of Guardians and the Supreme Jurist. At the height of the Red Army’s engagement in atrocities in Afghanistan, it was the same powerful entities that maintained good relations with the Soviet Union, despite the horror that was inflicted on their Afghan brothers. It is likely, therefore, that the present policy of Iran toward Afghanistan may continue.
UNHCR’s Mission In Afghanistan
Many involved in humanitarian issues work to alleviate the plight of innocent citizens trapped in hostile environments, as well as promote awareness of their grave situations throughout the international arena. One such organization is an agency of the established United Nations, the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This agency was formed in 1951 with the primary objective of resettling refugees in the aftermath of World War II. The degree of success that this particular organization achieves is dependent on many factors, many of them beyond its control, but which nonetheless determine its success and efficiency, or lack thereof. UNHCR is involved in various countries, many of them currently situated in the developing world, such as Afghanistan, which has experienced a massive onslaught of refugee crises going as far back as two decades.
Symposium on Afghanistan Opens New Door for Dialogue
The Afghanistan Peace Association (APA), a non-partisan umbrella organization representing Afghans from all political affiliations, sponsored a symposium entitled, "Exploring Sustainable Peace & Development in Afghanistan," at the Church Center for the United Nations in New York late last year. Approximately 150 Afghans from around the world as well as NGO representatives and others gathered to discuss peace and development in Afghanistan. This symposium was the first event organized by an Afghan organization to gather representatives from opposing political groups in one room.
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