New Delhi: The withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and the simultaneous Taliban takeover has left the country in a state of upheaval. Afghans, who have worked with American forces and their allies over the years, have been anxious to flee the country. Scenes of the Kabul international airport packed with ordinary Afghans trying to catch a flight out of the country were plastered all over news reports in the past week. Experts all over the world have expressed concern over life under the Taliban rule.
In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, India’s former ambassador to Afghanistan, Syria and Myanmar Gautam Mukhopadhaya said, “The beginning in Afghanistan is not very good. I happened to reopen the Indian embassy in Kabul in November 2001, one week after the fall of the Kabul to the Northern Alliance at that time, supported by US CIA operatives. At that time, during the Ramzaan period, Kabul was peaceful. People were very happy that the Taliban had been ousted and a new government was going to be formed, which was going to be a free government.”
Mukhopadhaya has also worked in the United Nations Headquarters in New York as a Consultant on Social Development and has been a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“If I see the situation today in Afghanistan- the messy U.S withdrawal and also the violent withdrawal, which saw two major large scale attacks at the Kabul airport, which led to the deaths of more than 100 people – 170 Afghans and 13 U.S soldiers, the augury is not good. What we seem to be coming in for is a state of even more severe violence that we have seen so far, as various extremist radical, terrorist outfits which have been part of the Taliban conglomerate, supported by the Pakistani ISI- as they all find Afghanistan as a theatre of their victory, will get emboldened for further attacks”, Mukhopadhaya further said.
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“But the good case scenario would be that if the Taliban are serious about what they say and are ready to form an inclusive transitional government, accommodating the various political and ethnic communities that constitute the majority of Afghanistan and give them real power not just positions without power, then we can perhaps, look forward to a peace process, albeit, it has after the military takeover. Though I am not very optimistic about that and I would not say that the worst-case scenario will happen. I doubt if the Taliban will be able to provide peace and stability, which are the things that the Afghan wants the most”, ambassador Mukhopadhaya pointed out.
After the U.S troops finally exited the war-torn country, uncertainty, fear has gripped Kabul with the reality that the Taliban have returned to Afghanistan after 20 years of war.
The people especially women are staring at an uncertain future. Many are concerned that their rights to work and education will be snatched by the Taliban and they are urging for an assurance. Many are scared of persecution and punishment for supporting foreign forces.
With the Taliban takeover after two decades, the world is witnessing the massive tragedy unfold in Afghanistan and the worst is yet to happen.
Meanwhile, talks between the Taliban and Panjshir resistance continues in the backdrop of the clashes between both sides. While, on Wednesday, the National Resistance Front said they would continue fighting since their negotiations with the Taliban failed.
The insurgent group has also shut down the internet, essential supplies in areas particularly the Panjshir valley, which is the only area in Afghanistan, which is not under the control of the Taliban.
Earlier today, the resistance forces in a tweet said that 13 members of the Taliban were killed in an ambush by National resistance in the Chkrinow district of Panjshir province and that one of their tanks are destroyed.
Talking on the issue, Ambassador Mukhopadhaya said, “Panjshir is a much-protected valley and a very difficult valley to breach. Therefore, it is not so easy to break the siege. Also, the Panjhshiri are very plucky people, who are led by plucky leaders in Afghanistan today-Vice Prez Abdullah Saleh and Ahmad Massoud, the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud.
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Panjshir resistance is not just for Panjshir it is a resistance for the whole idea of a free Afghanistan, which was represented earlier by the Islamic Republic, which had its flaws. But the majority of the Afghans preferred the republic with its flaws, not necessarily the Ghani government but at least the freedom that came with the Islamic Republic, over the Taliban and we have seen proof of that is the kind of desperation with which people were trying to leave Afghanistan by any means.”
“The Panjshir resistance represents far more than just Panjshir. It represents the desire for freedom, several political human rights of the Afghan people and this is only the beginning. We can expect to see it grow,” he explained, while adding that “militarily, they are in a bad situation because in the last resistance 1996- 2001, Ahmad Shah Massoud had been able to preserve a ‘corridor’ to Tajikistan. But it is still possible that the resistance will be able to establish a kind of corridor or rear base.”
