By Manas Ranjan Mahapatra
This morning I was amazed to know that Talibans have honourably left 150 Indians at Kabul Airport presumably for their fear for strong Indian Leadership at present. Later,I was clarified to know that it was a regular security check and the Indians stranded at Kabul returned by an Indian Air Force flight. In fact Taliban has refused permission to the Sikhs who are Afghanistan citizens to leave the country for fleeing to Canada !
My recent NPM articles on Afghanistan have been appreciated by many. Inspired by it ,I have posted a few more articles.This is another one in the series.
Taliban does not consider the present Indian Leadership so seriously,for they have their own domestic politics. Rich warlords are a big threat.Afghanistan is too big for Taliban to Chew as it is proved in a week.We may see fights among different regional warlords and the occupying Taliban forces.
Similarly it has come to international scrutiny that,Afghanistan is too big a country for Pakistan to swallow .And,so far with the help of Iron brother China and Super Brother US as well as Hidden Brother UK,Pakistan has not been able to put its evil design on Afghanistan.
After 9/11 incidence,US response turned to launching wars and ramping up homeland security, Americans thought that this is how Bin Laden would win – by bankrupting America.
And here Americans are today.This is why Americans after 9/11 never wanted their children to go into the military – because good men and women get chewed up and spit out and nothing is accomplished in the war !
Americans are disillusioned today after their worst failure in Afghanistan.They fought silly culture wars about standing for the anthem, and continued saying ‘thank you for your service’ at every turn, while they fundamentally wasted time and abandoned so many veterans in a hopeless cause – year after year.
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Talibans have finally entered to Kabul. It reminds that once an Indian plane was hijacked to Kandahar and somehow the stranded passengers were rescued.Now, Indians stranded at Kabul wait for Government of India to similarly rescue them. It needs our leadership at the centre to be effective and bold,a scholarly wisdom and a poetic imagination to deal with terrorism like Taliban.
In the last 75 years ,Independent India has got two great democrats as PM who were great scholars and writers ,Nehruji and Vajpayeeji. And ,after the sudden revival of Taliban in Afghanistan , the world misses these two great statemen .
Nehru was the PM who democratically admitted the talent of Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he was elected for the first time to LS in 1957.Vajpayeeji had a sense of democratic values and he also appreciated Nehru a number of times in various forums.The country is yet to get a world class leader like these two .Indira Gandhi was also firm in case of Independence Struggle of Bangladesh , but that boldness is lacking in the present leadership for the last two decades.
Taliban has now conquered Kabul.People are desperate to catch their flights for leaving the country. President Ghani has left the country . All the big players are now ready to silently seeing devastation of a country in the name of God.The declaration of Taliban on marriage of unmarried women or widows is acceptable if they are doing it as a matter of compassion or social commitment,but in the given circumstances it appears to be a matter of lust. Women in the Islamic countries are invariably deprived of liberty to grow properly.Afghan women are now undergoing a stage of depression.Innocent people are also mercilessly killed everyday at various places including Kabul Airport.
What we ,the so-called Biswa Gurus are doing ? Can India generate a leader like Nehru or Indira Gandhi or Atal Bihari Vajpayee again to face the situation ? Our PM while inaugurating the new Parliament Building of Afghanistan a decade ago ,hoped for continuance of friendship with that country.
Taliban has been supported by US and UK , as it appears now.This is a puppet government of Pakistan as Taliban Commanders were getting patronage of Pakistan in the past.China is silently observing the situation.India has to play a concrete role to ensure democracy in Afghanistan.An all party meeting at the earliest and a strong leadership in consensus on the issue free from petty religious bias may strengthen India’s diplomatic position in the matter as India with a sizeable Muslim population,will now be the preferred destination for refugees from Afghanistan .
