| 04 November 2001 | Sunday | 17 Shaban 1422 |
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The Great Game continues
Poor Afghanistan. The Persian rule in Ashvagan ('land of horses') as the area was then known, was overthrown in 1747 and a monarchy established in the land thereafter to be known as Afghanistan. The Shahs and Amirs ruled until 1973 when the country became a republic. In 1994 the Taliban converted the republic into an emirate.
The landlocked 251,824 square miles of territory has within in it over 2,000 mountain peaks and over 8,000 caves. It has always been fair game for any world power. First came the Greeks, to be followed down the years by many, many others, and the latest game is now in the throes of being played by the mighty US. No matter who has ruled over it, from conqueror to king to Taliban, the people of Afghanistan have forever suffered, forever been deprived, forever kept ignorant, forever been hungry, forever been miserably poor. Who has bothered to educate them in any sense of the word?
A look at the list of those who have held sway since 1747 shows how easy it has been to take over, to depose, to usurp, to assassinate or to murder:
Shahs of the Durrani dynasty: Ahmad Khan - assumed the title of Shah and the epithet Durr-i-Durran (1747-73); Timur - son (1773-93); Zaman Mirza - son (1793-deposed 1800); Mahmud 1st - brother (1800-deposed 1803); Shuja-ul-Mulk 1st - brother (1803-deposed 1809); Mahmud 2nd (1809-18).
Anarchy and confusion (1818-26).
Amirs of the Barakzay dynasty: Dost Mohammed 1st - assumed the title of Amir (1826 - abdicated 1838); Shuja-ul-Mulk - restored (1838-42); Dost Mohammed - restored (1842 - killed May 1863); Sher Ali Khan - son (May 1863 - deposed May 1866); Afzal Khan - brother (May 1866 - Oct 1867); Azam Khan - brother (Oct 1867 - deposed March 1868); Sher Ali Khan - restored (March 1868 - Feb 1879); Yakub Khan - son Feb 1879 - abdicated Dec 1879); Musa Khan - son (Dec 1879 - March 1880); Ayub Khan - uncle (March 1880 - Oct 1881); Abdur Rahman - son of Afzal Khan (Oct 1881 - Oct 1901); Habibullah Khan - son (Oct 1901 - assassinated Feb 1919); Nasrullah Khan - brother (Feb 1919 deposed).
Shahs of Afghanistan: Amanullah Khan - son of Habibullah (Feb 1919 - abdicated Jan 1929); Inayatullah Khan - brother (Jan 1929 deposed); Habibullah Ghazi (Bacha Saqao) - usurper (Jan 1929 - deposed and executed Oct 1929); Muhammad Nadir - great-grandnephew of Dost Mohammad (1929 - assassinated 1933); Muhammad Zahir - son (1933 - deposed 1973).
Presidents of the Republic of Afghanistan: Sardar Muhammad Daoud - Zahir Shah's cousin (July 1973 - deposed and assassinated April 1978); Noor Muhammad Taraki (April 1978 - deposed and executed September 1979); Hafizullah Amin (September 1979 - deposed and assassinated December 1979); Babrak Karmal (December 1979 - deposed May 1986); Muhammad Najibullah (May 1986 - deposed March 1992, later hanged by the Taliban 1996); Sibgatullah Mujaddedi (March 1992 - deposed June 1992); Burhanuddin Rabbani (June 1992 - ).
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan: Amirul Momineen Mulla Muhammad Omar (1996 - ).
In this present round of warring in Afghanistan, who is fighting whom and for what?
The emirate has an embassy in Islamabad, on Street 90, off Attaturk Avenue, presided over by Ambassador Mulla Abdul Salam Zaeef, who is assisted linguistically by his translator, Ahmed Ratib, distinguished by the black patch he wears over one eye.
Street 90, since September 11, has been jam-packed with journalists and cameramen of the world's press corps who hang around waiting for news to break from minute to minute or for a statement from Mulla Zaeef. Last Monday, I happened to be in Islamabad, staying in the house next door to the embassy, and strolled over for one of the almost daily press conferences. It was attended by some 150 journalists with 50-plus cameramen from countries stretching from Canada and Japan to South Africa and the Antipodes.
Mulla Zaeef rebuffed reports that Osama bin Laden, supposedly still in Afghanistan, is in possession of nuclear weapons, he confirmed that US commandos had entered his country, he denied that any foreigners had been killed in the air strikes, he was unaware of any forthcoming ground invasion, he denied rumours of any split among the Taliban, and he requested that all the jihadis of Pakistan who wished to join in the tangled tussle wait to cross the border until the ground battle begins. His statement and the few questions and vague answers took about fifteen minutes.
At a cost accountant's estimate, taking the time spent by the 200-odd waiting for the conference to get going, those fifteen minutes were worth $ 12,000. A lot of money that could perhaps be better spent, but such is the cost of news so eagerly awaited around the world.
The consulate-general of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in Karachi is situated next to the Bagh-i-Rustom in Clifton. It is well-staffed, with a consul-general, a first secretary-cum-vice-consul, a second secretary and a commercial attache. Consul-General Maulvi Rahmatullah Kakazada, now in his 35th year, is a native of Ghazni, he can speak, write and read Pashto, Persian and Arabic, and can understand English. He was manager of a freight forwarding company from 1996 to 1998 and since then has been CG at Karachi. He has only one wife who has presented him with four children.
First Secretary Vice Consul Mufti Muhammad Aleem is 28 years old, a graduate of our Dar al-Ulum Haqqania at Akora Khattak where he specialized in the study of fiqh, and is the proud holder of a certificate which entitles him to call himself 'Mufti'. He is proficient in Pashto and Persian, and can speak and understand some Urdu. He also has only one wife and so far only one child.
Second Secretary Muhammad Daoud Shah Niazi, born in 1973, is from the village of Niazi in Khost Paktia. He studied at a madrassah in Kohat and then at Jamshoro from where he graduated in 1997.
Commercial Attache Gul Ahmad Hakimi was born in 1964 in Ghazni and is a graduate of a madrassah at Quetta. Before being posted to Karachi in 1996, he was the director-general of the secondary education department of his country's ministry of education at Kabul.
These seemingly fierce men, bearded and turbaned, are all amiable people and they do have a sense of humour. To understand what they want from life is difficult. They are convinced that the demolishment of New York's Twin Towers and the attack on Washington's Pentagon was achieved by the Israelis. They say the Americans have no proof that Osama or his associates were involved.
They are, of course, imbued with religiosity. They have no fear of death and are absolutely ready and willing to kill in the name of their particular brand of religion. They were unable to tell me, when I asked, what or who is a 'moderate' Taliban - this was beyond them. They say the Taliban are not willing to be represented in a 'broad-based' government with the Northern Alliance and King Zahir Shah and his men. "Where was Zahir Shah when the Afghans were being massacred by the Russians?" they asked.
They are convinced that UN Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi is an American agent. When asked how they feel about their Foreign Minister Ahmad Muttawakils suggestion that instead of bombing Afghanistan, Bush and Blair settle the matter in a kalashnikov duel with Mulla Omar, they said the Mulla is waiting!
They told me that shrapnel from the countless bombs dropped by the Americans on Afghanistan is collected and sold as scrap in the bazaars of Afghanistan and Peshawar for whatever it can fetch. So at least someone is gaining some advantage from the bombardments.
They do not want war, they would far prefer peace. When asked then, in that case, why do the Taliban not hand over Osama to Bush, they say that, firstly, he is a Muslim and, secondly he has helped them fight the Russians, and, thirdly, he is their guest.
As far as the men of the consulate-general are concerned, what is known to us as terrorism is their manner of fighting a war. Their concept is very much the same as that of Prince Hasan of Jordan who, when introducing Tony Blair at the Al-Khoei Foundation conference in North London last week, reportedly said that terrorism stands to win by not losing; and the West stands to lose by not winning.
