In the game of chess, there is a move called the “skewer” where the player loses if he makes a choice and loses if he doesn’t make a choice. This is the condition of Afghanistan at the moment and the losing side are the poor people of Afghanistan who are caught in the cross-fire of international conspiracies, ambitions, militancy, insurgency, war and famine. After 20 years of war, there came a time when Afghanistan was being ruled by people who belonged to Afghanistan but that came with the price of hunger, death, bankruptcy, isolation and worse to come. After the take over of the Taliban and the disastrous exit of American troops, the international community and financial organizations, under the pressure from Washington have shut their doors to Afghanistan. It is an evil and sad state of affairs where Pakistan is left in the limbo. Western countries, particularly NATO countries made a blunder in Afghanistan and left the poor people to mend the mess. Afghanistan and its people are now on the brink worse than ever before. There is relevance in the words of a stoic philosopher of antiquity who said, “my teacher taught me that most people are good and kind but my experience says otherwise”.
The Taliban could evaluate the grave situation of the country the day they took over from the former Government installed by the United States. The country was shaking in terms of financial well-being; as much as forty percent of the GDP came from Foreign Funding and this is apart from aid given by wealthy countries and neighboring nations. A separate stream of funds was coming directly from Washington but all that stopped on the eve of the exit from Kabul. Adding to the issue is that the IMF and the World Bank seized foreign funds of the Afghan Government. The argument here was that those funds would be released based on negotiations with the Taliban and their treatment of women and minorities. Within a few months, the banking services collapsed and in the last week of December, more than half of the Afghan population was out of cash to buy basic goods and services. The Taliban Government have announced time and again that their soil would not be used against anyone, and that the Taliban is ready to reform their style of governance on modern lines, but all that has gone in vain. Kabul is in complete and utter isolation.
Next comes the health and food sector. Afghanistan is facing an acute shortage of food and medical services with over sixty percent children being malnourished as Afghan companies and the Government are unable to pay for basic health imports. While the hospital facilities are inadequate, regular power shortages are hampering provision of basic hospital services. There are long lines of people outside clinics and hospitals to visit doctors but no one has enough cash to afford surgery. Children and babies are dying every day; the only supply line is the one coming from neighboring countries like Pakistan and International Donor Organizations. The Taliban government is running a race against time and Afghanistan is on the brink of a grave humanitarian crisis while the world turns a blind eye to the unfolding tragedy just because the Americans were made the losers of a war in the region.
A similar situation is being seen in shortages of food and shelter. Afghanistan is undergoing a cold and hungry winter and many families are having to live under the open sky, eating plants and burning plastic to stay warm. Since the Afghan government has no cash/ payment system in place so it is offering food for work with laborers are receiving bags of rice and flour for a day’s work. Wheat and rice are being provided by Pakistan.
The Western bloc of countries under the leadership of the United States are refusing to negotiate with the Taliban even when thousands of Afghani people are starving and dying. The crisis is catastrophic not only in Kabul but around the whole of Afghanistan. The Chinese and the Russians are supplying much needed aid and also raising voices in the United Nations for engaging with the Taliban but the response is too late too little. That role has now been left to Pakistan.
Pakistan suffered losses of billions of dollars and around eighty thousand deaths in the “War on Terror”. The world is failing to recognize that Pakistan has been the victim all along, and now, Pakistan is being blamed for the humiliation of the previous Afghan Government and the U.S pull-out from Kabul. There are over 3 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and the number is increasing every day. The border with Afghanistan has been fenced but it is not water tight. There is growing tension and the food and medical supplies are running short. The winter is in full swing and Afghanistan is not getting the support it needs. In his special initiative, Prime Minister Imran Khan launched an ambitious programme of aid and support for Afghanistan combining regional and Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE among others. This effort bore fruit and much needed supplies were transported to Kabul but Pakistan is walking a tight-rope. It is not ready to recognize the Taliban Government unilaterally, but it is also not ready to let Afghanistan go down the path of fire and destruction. The Pakistan Government is rallying and lobbying to support the Taliban Government and diplomatically engage with them to steer them towards a path of development and progress. Chaos in Afghanistan will not bode well for anyone, anywhere.
Recently, attacks from the Afghanistan border aimed at Pakistan have increased manifolds. There have been many martyrdoms where the brave soldiers of Pakistan Army have defended the borders against insurgents and terrorists. The Taliban government has vowed provide support against any element that damages the Pak-Afghan relations and the most likely culprit here is the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban helped broker a ceasefire with them for 30 days but the TTP will become an even more pressing issue if the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is not controlled. When there are too many mouths to feed and there is nothing in hand, it is easy to manipulate and put a gun in that hand.
As the situation evolves, one thing is certain, the current generation of Afghan children, men and women have to pass through one of the most challenging and debilitating times of their lives. But it is a time where Afghan land is in the hands of the Afghan people. Many a nation like Germany, Japan, China and others were destroyed by war and it is the people, the younger generation that held up the spirits and worked tirelessly for a better tomorrow of their country. It is times like these that foster the sense of nationhood and the ability to go forward. Freedom and happiness are not cheap. In these relentless and harsh times, the people of Pakistan must stand with their neighbors, bury the old hostile memories, and assist the Afghan people to make a great nation. The support in these times will be remembered by history, for a time when the world turned its backs on a cascading nation, there were some like Pakistan who came forward, became a voice of the voiceless and became a feeding hand in times of hunger and destruction. May Almighty Allah have mercy on the people of Afghanistan and show them the path towards a peaceful tomorrow, Ameen
