It has been almost three months since the gloom of August 14, 2021, when Kabul was captured by the Taliban in some fraction of hours, bringing Afghanistan under the “Blitzkrieg of eternal gloom and forever loss”.
Afghanistan, as written in Hindu scriptures, was cursed by Gandhari, wife of Dhritarashtra in The Mahabharata. As the scriptures read, Gandhari was the Princess of Kandhar who had cursed her brother Shakuni for misleading her son Duryodhana. Her curse read that the kingdom of Shakuni, that was Kandhar, will never experience peace, prosperity and progress.
In the contemporary scenario, we don’t know how true the scriptures are, but the concern of peace prosperity and progress is scary and building a road to a humanitarian crisis.
The situation we saw in Afghanistan on August 15 this year is unfortunately unforgettable. Media houses floated images of human-crammed aircrafts and people hanging outside from them. Taliban promised that the era of Taliban 2.0 will be different from the one seen in the draconian years of 1996-2001. As the spokes”man” of the Taliban said the new rule will allow women to access education, employment and empowerment, we have to wait and see when these spoken words are going to be permuted in reality.
The rights of minorities are also in the spot of threat. Attacks on Gurudwaras in the recent past and stringent policies regarding dress codes (beard and kurta for men to hijab for women) are still keeping the situation tempering. Afghanistan is miserably holding the bottom position in the World Hunger Index. This raises the concern of hunger and malnutrition, especially among kids and women. The country holds a similar place in the United Nations Human Development Report, which includes health and education.
After the fall of the Taliban in the early 2000s, there was an increase in the ratio of enrollment at education institutions and better health facilities were being developed. But USA’s exit sings horrifying jingles of a reversal of these improvements, resurgence of terrorism, global refugee crisis and risk of civil war.
It has been almost two months since Asian countries acknowledged the role of Afghanistan in contemporary geopolitics. Since Afghanistan is considered as Dhadkan-e-Asia, the dynamics in the region are doing the shade of a new drama. There are various actors in this drama contributing with their impressive known characters.
Strategic Depth Doctrine
This time, the actual spoiler called India has been a spoiler of peace. Pakistan, having considerable control in Afghanistan, has not only been a great and uncommon threat to India but to humanity as a whole. Pakistan is a feeder of terrorism and its various terrorist organisations such as the Haqqani network — which is also remarked under United Nations Security Council Resolution — has a glaring control in Afghanistan. Thus, the role of Pakistan is difficult to be handled in the contemporary scenario, particularly in Afghanistan’s peace progress. This can be understood from the recent meet in Pakistan where India was not invited.
Ideo-friends
The next actor must be seen with his co-star, that is China with Russia. The two countries have bonhomie with each other, share a significantly similar ideology and have an inclination to Marxism and Maoism. A country called Quad as ‘Asian Nato’, is going to bump the actual progress of peace. China, with its aspirations of controlling Asia and weaving it as historical silk rule, will prioritise the famous Belt and Road initiative, giving the least importance to human cries. Russia, though not explicitly accepting China’s ambitions, is implicitly voting for it to win.
Far Neighbour
There is no discussion on South Asia with its friends in the West. USA’s eagle eye understands the changing dynamics of the Indo-Pacific and the aggression of China in the region either through a string of pearls or as an assertive behaviour in Taiwan. The USA is involved in various multilateral platforms such as Quad and AUKUS to counter China attempt to expand before it is too late.
Peace Makers
India is in a contemporary cataclysmic global order, profoundly and proudly holding an important position. The recent Delhi declaration held under NSA Ajit Doval spoke it all. Though India has strategic importance regarding Afghanistan, firstly to counter China and secondly to counter terrorism, India as a nation has always dwelled on the idea of peace and non-violence and propounds to save lives and bring stability. The recent gesture of sending a truck filled with wheat shows it all.
India as a nation that holds such literal ground in global order must take a stringent stand. Firstly, it must aspire for informal links with the Taliban, and simultaneously, it must condemn terrorism and human rights violations to focus on human development.
But what is more important now is:
The world as one must stand for peace and humanity rather than for their self-obsessed propaganda. It must not close its eyes in front of crying liberty and equality standing in the heart of Afghanistan. It is important for every country, whether in Asia, Europe or North America, to work on a peaceful rejuvenation of the Heart of Asia.