Trouble ahead in Karzai’s
Afghanistan
? Talibans roil
Kandahar
by killing the head cleric
A.H.
Jaffor Ullah
Page 1 || Page 2
Let us not make the mistake by assuming that Hamid
Karzai is an extremely popular president of present-day
Afghanistan
. Behind his meteoric rise to power in
Kabul
is George W. Bush. In the aftermath of
America
’s invasion of
Afghanistan
and subsequent removal of Talibans as a political force, George Bush
favored Karzai, a scion of a Pashtun warlord family from Southern part of
nation, to assume the absolute power in this war-torn nation.
In December 2001, a meeting was organized in
Bonn
,
Germany
, where a decision was made to form a provisional government in
Afghanistan
. In the meantime, a Loya Jirga (traditional tribal assembly) was
convened in
Kabul
. To boost the morale of Afghan people the deposed king, Zahir Shah,
returned to
Kabul
in April 2002. In June 2002, Loya Jirga chose Hamid Karzai as their
temporary president. This allowed for drafting a constitution, which
was Sha’ria-based one hundred percent. No surprise here. In
January 2004, Loya Jirga adopts a new constitution by virtue of which a
presidential election was held in October 2004. From a field of many
candidates Mr. Karzai came out as the winner receiving 55% of the popular
vote notwithstanding alleged vote rigging to favor a Karzai win.
The central government of
Afghanistan
headed by Hamid Karzai is based on
Kabul
where the federal force could control law and order with the help of 5,000
strong NATO forces. Outside
Kabul
, it is a different story altogether. There, provincial governor is
maintaining the law and order many of them are warlords. From time
to time, the warlords wage war against the federal force while American
soldiers keep busy hunting down remnants of Talibans who are armed and
most willing to kill federal army and American servicemen if and when
opportunity lands. Karzai knows very well that Talibans do hate him;
derisively, they call him an American stooge. Therefore, it has
become the main job of Karzai government to discredit Talibans and their
supreme leader Mullah Omar who is in hiding somewhere in the southern
province near
Pakistan
.
In May 2005 when the news of alleged desecration of
holy Koran by American soldiers in
Guantánamo
Bay
was flashed in the Islamic world, many clerics in
Afghanistan
who are sympathetic to Talibans whipped up anti-American feelings amongst
Afghans. Street demonstration followed and Taliban insurgencies have
risen sharply since then. Under this ominous backdrop, something
terrible had happened in the last week of May in
Kandahar
. I will describe chronologically what did happen in the main city
of the southernmost populous
province
of
Kandahar
where Taliban movement got started by Mullah Omar in the aftermath of
Soviet pullout from
Afghanistan
in 1989.
In what maybe characterized as an ominous
development, the Talibans were regrouping in southern parts of
Afghanistan
ever since the presidential election was held in October 2004. The
Karzai Administration was trying to persuade the clerics in
Kandahar
to dissociate themselves from Mullah Omar’s organization and his sphere
of influence. In 1996, the same clerics have bestowed Mullah Omar
the title of “Amir ul-Mumineen” (Leader of the faithfuls) in a
ceremony held in a famous mosque in the outskirts of
Kandahar
when he entered the city triumphantly wearing a cloak supposedly worn by
prophet Muhammad. Thus, Karzai thought if the same bunch of clerics
would withdraw their support for Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader’s
stature would greatly diminish and Taliban Movement would wither in vine.
With this view in mind President Karzai had befriended the shura of
Kandahari clerics, Maulvi Abdullah Fayaz. IT turns out to be a bad
news for the head cleric. You will see why I said so.
In May 2005, 600 clerics from different provinces
of
Afghanistan
assembled in the Blue Mosque in
Kandahar
; they seated on the marble floor before the head of shura, Maulvi Fayaz,
who said: “Karzai is elected through free and fair election, and
religiously we have to obey his orders. None of the orders of the previous
emirs, including Mullah Omar, is accepted.”
Maulvi Fayaz urged his fellow clerics that to
accept orders from Talibans would mean killing Afghanis and destabilizing
the country. He opined that
Afghanistan
is ruled per Sha’ria law, and killing fellow citizens are against
Sha’ria. A list of 13 proclamations was read out during the
three-hour ceremony.
But the support of the religious establishment had
strings attached to it; the clerics saw liberal views gaining grounds in
Afghanistan
since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. The clerics wanted Karzai
Administration to construct hundreds of madrassahs, prohibit drug usage,
alcohol and screen “sexual films.” They also called for women's rights
to remain within the bounds of Sha’ria law. The meeting of the council
followed several days of unrest and escalating violence across the south
done by loyalists to the cause of Mullah Omar, who is rumored to be still
alive.
Page 1 || Page 2
|