Herat Security Dialogue-XI

Welcome to the 11th Herat Security Dialogue!

This is the second time that the Herat Security Dialogue is being held in Tajikistan, the cherished land of our kindred and a major wellspring and focal point of our common language and culture.

We have moved the Herat Security Dialogue from Herat, the metropolis of the Great Khurasan civilisation of old, from our dear country of Afghanistan, to our brother country of beloved Tajikistan, with whose help and cooperation we organised this event.

Your Excellencies,

It has been two years and three months since the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and their surrender to the Taliban.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of educated citizens and trained professionals have been forced to flee the country. Thousands of Afghan men and women have been imprisoned, tortured and tormented. Our women’s glorious fight for freedom and their human rights is the most illustrious manifestation and a symbol of our people’s struggles for liberty and democracy.

Our people continue to fight against authoritarianism and injustice of a most barbaric kind, and will continue fighting until justice and freedom are achieved.

The Taliban’s narrative of their recent power grab casts their actions in the mould of a victorious Jihad and ending the occupation of Afghanistan by the Crusaders and the Infidel.

In reality, the Taliban’s return to power was the result of the incompetence of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and was made possible in the aftermath of structural transformations in the political world order and temporal strategic exigencies on the global scale.

Even though, ever since Taliban’s return and until the present, our people’s fight has not yet reached a stage where Taliban’s rule would be imminently coming to an end, the fighting continues in various shapes and manners; and it will continue until the establishment of a righteous and legitimate regime established via a fair and free popular election in Afghanistan.

The history of all freedom-seeking and resistance movements against iniquity and injustice teaches us that in the quest for justice, even the smallest movements continue to grow gradually in numbers and strength.

Withdrawals, setbacks, and temporary defeats, followed by ultimate victory, are logically inherent steps in the fight for justice, and should not to be interpreted otherwise. The history of our own country over the last century is in itself a testimony to this fact. The Spanish people’s fight against Franco, or that of the Portuguese against Salazar, and many other countries further confirm the truth of this conviction.

Many politicians and governments, both in our region and all over the world, are asking the political figures and the civil society of Afghanistan to interact with the Taliban. There are essential differences between the views of the outside world on the issues of Afghanistan and the views of the majority of Afghan people.

Our concern, the concern of the people of Afghanistan, is the loss of independence, the absence of the rule of law, lack of political and social safety, and being deprived of economic growth and cultural and ethnic equality.

We cannot afford a merely geopolitical or commercial outlook, or one entirely focused on the mineral resources of Afghanistan, or even a merely security-oriented outlook.

We believe that, like all mankind, we, too, have a right to be able to live without fear in our own country, and enjoy civil rights and political and civil freedoms.

Considering solutions for the issues of Afghanistan, “interaction with the Taliban” is passed around political and diplomatic circles as the predominant approach in international politics.

Obviously, political interaction and dialogue presupposes the existence of at least two fronts with opposing political approaches. [I guess this paragraph is incomplete; the point being that although there must first exist at least two sides who disagree about something, but political dialogue becomes possible only if both sides are seriously willing to talk. They can have many disagreements, but at least on one thing they must agree: dialogue.]

As someone involved in the policy-making of our country for nine years, and after that, in the direct talks with the Taliban, twice in Moscow and once in Doha, and as someone with knowledge of current affairs through major policy-makers in favour of interaction with the Taliban, I know this as a fact that the Taliban have never made a serious offer to interact with their opponents—not even once.

The Taliban would like to believe that they have already formed an inclusive and Islamic government and now the other sides must give them their allegiance. There has been no change in this approach of theirs. A public policy for peace can not be founded on the viewpoint of a limited number of malcontent insiders; opposition policies and an alternative armed with a large-scale program for law-abiding governance cannot take shape without giving consideration to the narrative dominating the apparatus of power.

None of the propositions advocating interaction with the Taliban so far, have a clear plan or a road map with a clear destination.

It is worth noting a couple of issues referred to in the report of the Special Rapporteur of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Feridun Hadi Sinirlioğlu, at least from the point of view of Conflict Resolution Theory.

I would like to emphasise here that there was no need to whitewash the Taliban, and point out issues that cannot be of any significance in the midst of all the horrific and iniquitous policies carried out in our country, especially considering the gender apartheid implemented in Afghanistan, in order to be able to put forward such a scheme.

Although, engagement in any enterprise that shines with the slightest light of hope for peace, should not be viewed as the end of our struggles. We should stand by the conviction that only a targeted, transparent and determined fight for a united and equitable Afghanistan, inclusive of social, cultural and ethnic diversity can lead us toward lasting peace.

I would like to reaffirm that I and my like-minded peers strongly believe in peaceful political and civil struggle. Democracy and democratic struggle cannot materialise anywhere in the world in the absence of democrats. We must understand that the various modes of political conflict are products of the realities behind interrelations, political power and systems of governance, not the fantasies and aspirations of dissidents.

Deprived of participating in the peaceful competition of political ideas and agendas, speaking your native tongue in your own home, deciding the nature of your relationship with your god, or choosing what you wear, you are forced to react. Likewise, in the realm of ideas, ever since the Classical Age, the overthrow of autocrats has always been a topic of interest in political theory.

Undoubtedly, we advocate political struggle for achieving peace in our country. Nonetheless, we must pay tribute to the memory of those who sacrificed their precious lives in defence of freedom and the right to self-government, and in defence of their culture, language, dignity and the very substance of their being.

The multi-faceted resistance of the people of Afghanistan did not emerge from diplomatic salons and it is not rooted in the aspirations of a belligerent spirit, and thus, it cannot be undone with moralistic sermons. When autocracy and totalitarianism comes to an end, their modes of struggle will also change.

We are well aware that the opponents of the Taliban’s sexist apartheid regime are not united. It is only natural with the devastating defeats inflicted on them. Regardless, we must strive for solidarity and bring together all the democratic and pro-justice forces in a united council for democracy. I hope we will soon succeed in this endeavour.

Even though the main driving force for peace must be in our own people, we do need the cooperation of our regional neighbours and the international community.

Any peace initiative that could lead to the reinstitution of the rule of law and democratic freedoms must be supported.

Now, let me share with you some of the questions that occupy my mind every day, concerning the approach of the international community to the peace process.

It is a mystery that the violent, and Islamist (?) no less, struggles of the opponents of the secular political regime of Syria is justified in the eyes of the countries who have made peace with the Taliban, while the Afghan resistance which is an inevitable act of existential self-defence in affirmation of their human rights is not acceptable! In Libya, NATO-backed armed rebellion against the dictatorship of Muammar Al-Qaddafi which resulted in the collapse of the state and the creation of a broken government, is justified, while the people of Afghanistan are expected to surrender to pre-modern barbarism and a primitive, tribalistic and religious dictatorship. How can this discrepancy be explained to the people of Afghanistan?

Afghan people do not find such double standards acceptable and these contradictory approaches in international politics lead to nowhere. But they certainly make our fight for peace more difficult and disastrous.

This reminds me of the time when the opposition of the African Congress and their leaders to the Apartheid regime in South Africa was likewise rejected by the world’s democracies. But Mandela and his companions powered ahead and, in the end, established the Republic of South Africa. Countries who were against South Africa’s fight for freedom know full well why South Africa has parted ways with them in international politics.

We are well aware that the days of foreign deployment in Afghanistan are over. What’s more, no patriotic Afghan wishes for the  deployment of foreign legionaries in his country. The Taliban stand alone in this regard, having stationed thousands of terrorist mercenaries in our country, who will nonetheless be driven out on the dawn of a free Afghanistan.

The United States and NATO must respond to the calls to accept responsibility for the ruinous aftermath of the irresponsible withdrawal of their forces from Afghanistan. A request for political and diplomatic collaboration in the international arena in order to remedy the outcomes of the unilateral agreement with the Taliban, made in the absence of the representatives of Afghanistan, is justified and the world must take it seriously.

It is the wish of the people of Afghanistan, that global competition among political systems, trade-oriented approaches and preservation of the world order, not be used as an excuse to justify welcoming the leaders of terrorism with a red carpet.

The ideology of the Taliban and their structural links to international terrorism cannot be changed with market-oriented approaches or appeasement policies.

Now I would like to briefly address our neighbouring countries.

We want to have a fair and free country. We want peace at home. And we want to live in peace with our neighbours and with the world.

Afghanistan cannot achieve lasting peace and economic progress all by itself. Only through regional convergence can we overcome social and economic underdevelopment and, with the cooperation of our neighbours, transform our country into a centre of peace and security.

To this end, a new narrative is needed, founded undoubtedly on the following principles and values:

The unquestionable sovereignty of the people

Having a constitution founded upon the basic rights and freedoms of all citizens

Unconditional acceptance of equality between men and women

Unconditional human rights

Accepting the ethnic and cultural diversity of the country

Downgrading the current scale of centrism

Extensive secularisation of the law and the judicial system of the country with an unconditional emphasis on national unity and the territorial integrity of Afghanistan

Following the course of a narrative founded on these values we can save our country and our people from this horrendous chasm of civilisational rupture and begin on a glorious journey towards the establishment and preservation of a democracy born of the free will of our people.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Here I would like to express my gratitude to His Excellency, Emomali Rahmon, the esteemed President of the Republic of Tajikistan, the people of Tajikistan, the esteemed officials of the Foreign Ministry, the honourable Professor Qasem Shah Skandar, Director of the Centre for the study of Afghanistan and the Region, and the academic community of Tajikistan for helping us through these difficult times and collaborating with us in organising this conference.

I would also like to give thanks to my dear friend, Dr. Moradian, Director of the AISS, and his colleagues and the Board of Trustees of the AISS, for all their efforts and their determination in the course of arranging this conference. Once again, I thank all of our esteemed guests who have come a long way to attend this conference. As the people of Herat would say, we welcome your footsteps on the ground of our sight.

I am very glad and take great pride in the fact that the National Afghan Youth Orchestra, under the aegis of Maestro Sarmast, are in attendance at our conference. The presence of these cultural ambassadors is a clear sign of the uninterrupted cultural productivity of our people—especially our youth—and their fondness for civilisation, in opposition to barbarism and anti-civility.

Thank you for your patience. May this be an opportunity for you to have a very constructive dialogue!