Afghans hope jirgah would bring peace

Kabul, Dec 8: The proposal for a joint regional peace "jirgahh" involving tribals on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border planned by President Hamid Karzai, has stirred sentiments here, with the people hoping for something tangible to emerge for restoration of normalcy.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, who arrived here yesterday on a three-day visit, would discuss the issue with the Afghan leaders. He is s expected to cite his government's negotiations with militants in tribal areas as a possible model for replication.

Mr Karzai had proposed the cross-border "jirgah" at a meeting with US President George Bush and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf at Washington in September.

Traumatised by about three decades of war and internal conflicts, local people remain reticent on the sensitive issue, some come forward openly in support of the assembly, seeing a ray of hope for return of peace in the entire country which continues to witness suicide attacks amid reports of a resurgent Taliban.

"We are keeping our fingers crossed about the meeting, but leadership of both the countries should realise, permanent peace is feasible only when there are no overt or covert support to trouble makers," commented Mr Junaid, a 65-year-old dry fruit seller who ekes out a living by hawking these items on a small scale.

A visiting UNI correspondent found the people thirsting for peace and stressing that restoration of order must remain high on the government's agenda.

Mohammed Iliyas, who first refused to get into any political controversy, opened up after a bit coaxing and said they were following every move of the government.

However, there was lack of faith in some quarters after reports of alleged atrocities by some "erring foreign forces". The government must look into such complaints very seriously and bring the guilty to book for human rights violation. "Then only the peace jirgah would have any meaning for locals," he said.

A national level seminar was organised here recently to discuss Mr Karzai's proposal and speakers showed keen interest in the assembly, saying it might be a take off point.

A number of intellectuals contacted by UNI said that the meeting may not have a magic wand to resolve the issue but there should be a sincere bid to tackle the problems mainly arising out of arms and drug smuggling in region. Such "interested parties" would try to scuttle move towards a resolution.

Intellectuals also warned the Afghan Government to be cautious in its dealings with Islamabad.

Local newspapers had been highlighting the pros and cons of the assembly with detailed reports on seminars and debates on the issue.

An English daily recently splashed the news of the jirgah with a screaming headline" Public support for Peace Jirgah".

The Debate Forum, organised by the Regional Study Centre, discussed the issue threadbare and inferred that the assembly was unavoidable for eliminating terrorism and obstacles in the way of peace on borders of the two countries.

Mr Abudul Rashid Waziri, a former Minister for Tribal Affairs and now adviser to the Regional Centre, observed that a resurgent Taliban was being backed from across the border and asserted that Talibans and Pashtuns were not synonymous as they professed different ideologies. Tribal leaders, Parliament members, the Ulema and UN representatives also needed to participate in the jirgah.

The paper, Afghanistan Times, giving detailed account of the debate, quoted Mr Waziri as saying that the killing of a large number of tribal leaders had led to power vacuum on the Pakistan side of the border and the Taliban had taken those slots. This trend had to be reversed.

Mr Sayeed Niazi, who heads the NGO, 'Civil Societies of Afghanistan', said it would help eliminate conflicts.

An intellectual who preferred to remain anonymous, expressed the apprehension that the jirgah might collapse under the weight of the Durand Line dispute between the two countries. This line which divides the Pasthun areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan "was the mother of all problems", he contended.

Informatively, Pasthun is the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan with a sizeable presence in Pakistan. According to the local papers, the main jirgah is expected to involve tribal Pashtun leaders from either side of the border since the idea is to have cross border arrangements.

UNI