(foil-l) Afghanistan/Watan Party on peace and justice
B. Skanthakumar
http://www.peg.apc.org/greenleft
For peace and justice in Afghanistan
MOHAMMED ISSA is president of the Afghan
Watan Party. He was interviewed in Brussels on
February 10 by AMJAD AYUB for the
Pakistani Marxist news magazine Struggle. The
following is abridged from that interview.
Question: What is the present situation in
Afghanistan?
Afghanistan is passing through the darkest period in
her history. Religious fanatics, with the active
collaboration of the world's rightist forces, are
controlling most of the country.
Since 1992, the fundamentalists have dominated the
power bases in Afghanistan. It was the mujahideen
who destroyed museums, plundered the cities,
abolished human rights, and looted and murdered the
residents. Now, nothing is left but a vast ruin of what
was once the hub of a great civilisation.
Question: What steps is your party taking to
change this situation?
After falling victim to both left and right extremes, the
Afghanis have come to the conclusion that extremes
cannot bring peace and progress. The Russian
invasion had the support of the left extremists and the
mujahideen were backed by the right extremists of
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Iran and
many other fanatical religious groups. Both extremes
were responsible for the violation of basic human
rights.
The Watan Party is fighting for the rights and freedom
of the Afghan people. We are unveiling the atrocities
and crimes of the extremist Taliban. We are trying to
mobilise and bring together all democracy and
justice-loving Afghan political parties and groups in
order to pave the road for a people's elected
government in Afghanistan.
Question: Tell us about the recently formed
Alliance for Peace in Afghanistan (APA).
The APA was formed in order to bring the war to an
end and establish long-lasting peace. The Watan
Party worked day and night to bring together the six
political parties that are now members of the alliance.
On February 7, the six parties held their congress
under the banner of APA in Frankfurt, Germany. A
number of well-known freedom fighters also
attended. APA was formed and the Watan Party was
elected the leader of the alliance for six months.
Question: What is the program of the APA?
The program is to take steps that would end the war,
establish justice, replace the ethnic and religious
antagonism with social harmony, to prevent
Afghanistan from disintegration, to check external
intervention in the internal affairs of our country, to
make a meeting of an elected loya jirga [parliament]
possible, to work for the establishment of a national
government and to write a new constitution.
Question: The government of China has
recently established contact with the Taliban
and a trade agreement between the two is said
to be in the offing. What is your reaction?
It must be remembered that it was our government
that made the Russian troops go home on February
15, 1988. Since 1988, until the success of the
mujahideen in 1992, we ran the country
independently. From day one we objected to the
Russian interference in our internal affairs. Now we
strongly condemn the Chinese interference.
It is beyond comprehension how the Chinese can
justify establishing friendly contact with the inhuman
religious fanatics who are responsible for the
destruction of civilisation in our country. The Chinese
government is shaking hands with the murderers of
human rights. The Taliban are not recognised by any
government in the world, except their illegitimate
parents, the governments of Pakistan and Saudi
Arabia.
Question: What will the regional and
international repercussions of the
Chinese-Taliban friendship be?
Ideologically, the Chinese and Taliban seem opposite
to each other. This is an unholy alliance and one
against the will of the people of China and the
Afghanistan. The spread of religious fanaticism to the
borders of China will bring havoc to the people of
China.
It worries us a great deal that a member of the UN
Security Council is establishing contact with the
Taliban fanatics. We see this as a shameful attempt to
put the Taliban in the vacant seat of Afghanistan in the
UN.
We therefore appeal all those who fight for justice to
condemn this evil act of international diplomacy, and
help the democratic forces and the struggling women
to restore peace and democracy in Afghanistan so
that it can play a progressive role not only in the
region but worldwide.
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