March 6, 2002	Wednesday	Zilhaj 21, 1422

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PESHAWAR, March 5: Speakers at a seminar have held the  former Soviet Union, United States and their local ‘henchmen’  responsible for the massive killings of Afghans and the organised destruction of Afghanistan to serve the interests of these powers in  the region.

The seminar entitled “Future setup in Afghanistan” was organized by  the Pakhtoonkhwa Qaumi Party here at the Peshawar Press  Club on Tuesday.

National Awami Party of Pakistan (NAPP) chief Ajmal Khan Khattak, International  Pakhtoon Conference chairman Salim Raz,  PQP  chief Mohammad  Afzal Khan Lala, Afghan Millat Party leader  Shamsul Huda, former chief of University Grant Commission Prof  Pareeshan Khattak, chairman of Pakhtoon Academy Rajwali Shah Khattak and others spoke on the importance of peace and unity in Afghanistan.

They said the super powers had made Afghanistan a  battlefield in the 1980s to settle scores between themselves, but they caused  an unrepairable damage to the very integrity of the country.

They said the local agents of the foreign powers tore the country and introduced an unending war culture under various banners and left it stateless. “Today, Afghanistan has lost all of its  tolerance, unity, Afghan nationhood,  political  traditions, economy, manpower and cultural heritage,” they added.

They  observed that return of lasting peace was essential  for putting the country back on the track. “The Afghans  have to get rid of gun culture, otherwise they would fail in  building a new Afghanistan on the ruins left by the decade-long war,”  they added.

Some  of the speakers blamed Afghans for betraying  the Saur  revolution and putting Dr Najibullah on gallows. They  said the revolution was aimed at bringing a positive change in the old fabric  of Afghan society, but the reactionary forces opposed  it on religious basis and brought the country to the point of no return.

The  Taliban imposed their authority on conservative lines and excluded half of the humanity (women) from the national life mere on gender basis, they argued. The bigots and zealots even deprived the women from  education and set books on fire to protect the people from the mundane  and secular thoughts, they added.

They alleged that the Taliban had imposed Arab culture on  the Pakhtun culture.