Real face of Hamid Karzai

By Muhammad Jamil

Logar Provincial Police Chief General Daud Ahmadi quoted BBC's report that around 200 militants were trained by militants hailing from Pakistan and Chechnya in the Zarghoon Training Center in the province. Despite the fact that militants were involved in anti-government activities, the Afghan Security Forces were asked not to launch military operation by former President Hamid Karzai. The debate is raging in the Afghan electronic media; however neither Karzai nor anyone of his coteries has commented on the news item. According to the police chief, security forces on the orders from National Security Council recently launched an operation on the training center in which at least 27 Taliban militants were killed and 33 others were injured. He also stated that caches of weapons, ammunition and trucks loaded with explosives were confiscated during the operation.

When the American invaders descended on Afghanistan and occupied it after toppling Taliban, they dug out Hamid Karzai from some obscure niche and perched him on the Kabul throne. He was to be the page boy of spy agency CIA, which the Bush administration had anointed its satrap to rule the conquered land. CIA had found in Karzai an obliging valet to carry out task of pillory and demonization of Pakistan military and ISI. He therefore continued to cry cunningly that Pakistan was fuelling insurgency by providing sanctuaries on its soil on fleeing Taliban and their allied Al Qaeda fighters. It has to be mentioned that from the very start, Hamid Karzai had two Indian advisors occupying key positions in his own office in addition to some staff in NDS who planned vile acts against Pakistan to destabilize it. 

It is an open secret that there was a proposal for deployment of two Indian army's divisions in Afghanistan - the proposal that drew very serious consideration in New Delhi in 2008. At that time President Obama too was fretting about the troop surge in Afghanistan. The Indian contingent was to be separate and independent of that surge, and the move was prompted by none else but Karzai himself. The powerful Indian establishment was all set to go for this deployment, but was held back by some wise Indians who warned that India could bog down in Afghanistan, as were the Soviets earlier, the Americans now, and was India's own expeditionary force in Sri Lanka in the 1990s. Pakistan and the rest of the world understand that Karzai is inveterate Pakistan-hater, whose hostility against this country knows no bounds at all. 

There are countless stories of Hamid Karzai's foul play, corruption, nepotism, and his special favours to India during his long tenure. He still holds court and considerable sway in Kabul, and is responsible for sabotaging talks between Afghan government and the Taliban. In June 2015, he had warned Afghan government against Afghanistan succumbing to pressure from Pakistan, and deplored the unacceptable concessions by his successor President Ashraf Ghani. Of course, certain elements across the border are opposed to an improved relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan, especially former president Hamid Karzai and his close aides, who are trying to create obstacles in normalization of relations with Pakistan. He had strongly condemned the Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries about intelligence sharing and said it was against Afghan's national interest. He had earlier opposed Ghani's decision to send army officers for training to Pakistan. 

Public insinuations by former President Hamid Karzai had caused a serious setback to bilateral relations between the two neighbours. With mounting terror attacks in Afghanistan, fingers are pointed towards Pakistan despite the fact that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had categorically stated that enemies of Afghanistan are enemies of Pakistan, without any exception. The fact remains that Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and President Ashraf Ghani have more than once appreciated Pakistan's efforts for having taken action against terrorists groups. But the problem is that Afghan government is so internally divided and there are many groups on Abdullah's side, who are opposed to talks with the Taliban. On the other hand, Pakistani military and civilian leaders had thrown all support behind President Ashraf Ghani's efforts to bring peace to his war-ravaged country. But Afghan government had pinned high hopes on Pakistan that it enjoys influence over the Taliban. 

Anyhow, former president Hamid Karzai had relegated India to the periphery of his foreign policy. President Ashraf Ghani, of course, took steps to address Pakistani concerns about Indian influence in Afghanistan, and had sent a group of army cadets to an academy in Pakistan as opposed to India, where Afghan soldiers were normally trained, and had suspended a request for Indian weapons. But this was not acceptable to India's lackey Hamid Karzai. For his part, Nawaz Sharif had vowed to help target militants hiding out in border areas, and to work more closely to fight regional terrorists. "Any effort by any militant or group to destabilise Afghanistan will be dealt with severely and such elements will be outlawed and hunted down," Nawaz Sharif said. Ashraf Ghani's remarks that Pakistan and Afghanistan are not brotherly countries but have state to state relations have perhaps been made to appease his detractors to show that he is acting tough with Pakistan. 

Having that said, Hamid Karzai is misguiding President Ashraf Ghani that there can never be peace unless all foreign forces leave. He does not realize that Afghan forces are not ready to hold the fort; and what happened at Kunduz supports that view. Even in Afghanistan's north, which is considered relatively peaceful, the Taliban fighters are carrying out attacks with impunity. Anyhow, President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah can show magnanimity and bring the Taliban on board to avert the civil war. If they don't do it, the end result could be disintegration of Afghanistan, as more regional players will jump in the fray to secure their positions. It is, therefore, in the interest of all ethnic groups to find a common ground for power-sharing to make Afghanistan peaceful, stable and sovereign. If they continue to tread the beaten track, they all stand to lose.