Talban has lost all support, they will lose power very soon.
By
Farooq Tariq (25-09-2001)
[A special interview with Adil, leader of Afghanistan Labour
Revolutionary Organization Adil is leader of a small left wing
organization based in Afghanistan. He is himself in exile. He was in
Jilalabad for three days from 16 to 19th September to see the mood and
to instruct his party men for the future strategy. It was an illegal
entry to Afghanistan. Here is a special report on the present situation
in Afghanistan based on his interview with Farooq Tariq taken at Lahore
on 24th September. Farooq Tariq General secretary of the Labour Party
Pakistan (see: www.labourpakistan.org)]
* Talban has lost all support, they will loose power very soon
* Asama has at least 25000 Islamic militants
* Left and Right unite to support former King Zahir Shah,
* Every one who has enough money for travel to Pakistan is leaving.
I traveled to Afghanistan on 16th September and reached Jilalabad. The
town was in absolute shock conditions. Everyone from there was talking
to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible. To reach to Peshawar, you
need at least 200,000 Afghanis ($2). Then you need another $5 to bribe
the Pakistan official at the border to cross. So any one who has this
amount is leaving. An average wage of an Afghani government clerk for
instance at present is around 300,000 Afghanis ($3) per month. A daily
worker in Jilalabad would get around Afghani 10,000 to 20,000 ($0.10
to$0.20) per day. So there is tremendous poverty in all parts of
Afghanistan. Wages are not normally paid up to 6 months. People are
sick and tired of Talban regime. They can not say it openly but now are
very sure the regime is going to go away. Most of the shops and the
trading companies were closed in Jilalabad. No one wants to do any
business in the city. It is more like a deserted city. Read more.
On Talban military power
There are around 20,000 military men at the disposal of Talban. They
have lost their best friend Pakistan, so their military assistance is
in trouble. On the contrary, there are over 25000 military men with
Asama. They belong to China, Algeria, Nigeria and many other Arab
countries apart from Pakistan. When Talban say they will not hand over
Asama to Americans, it has nothing to do with their courage or their
service to Islam, they are unable to hand him over as Asama has more
Islamic militants than the Talbaan.
On the Popularity of Talbaan
They have lost support in absolute terms. The people I spoke in
Jilalabad are openly against the Talban. I think it is only Talibs (the
militant students) who support them. No one else support them in
Afghanistan. They are the most unpopular regime in Afghanistan hi
story. If American comes here they will loose power not so much of the
attack but more because they have no social basis. It is not like the
situation when Russians came to Afghanistan. There were a lot of people
in Afghanistan opposing them. Also Americans and Pakistan was against
them. But the situation is totally different. Talbaan can not fight
with American for long time. They can not hide for long time.
They are doomed to lose power. Talban are most vicious and brutal
government of all time. We oppose them from the beginning. But American
and Pakistan have supported them from the beginning. They say it today
that Talban government is no good, we are saying it from the day first.
Three trends within Talbaan There are three trends within the hierarchy
of Talbaan regime. One is the most fundamentalist who are totally
opposed to the handing Talbaan over to American. One big group is in
favor of handing Asama to American. The third one is balancing the two
groups. It is the third group, which has prevailed recently in its
decision that Asama should leave voluntarily. The problem is that all
the three groups are smaller than the army of Asama is. Asama is the
real ruler of Afghanistan and not the Talbaan.
On Northern Front
There are mix people in the Northern Front. Abdul Rashid Dostum who
heads Junbash Milli Islamia (Islamic National Movement) was a close
ally of Babrak Karmal and Dr. Najib ullah, the former rulers of
Afghanistan with the support of Russians. He is not fundamentalist and
represents Uzbak and Turkmenistan people of Afghanistan. Another
component party of Northern Front is the party of Professor Siaf, s
Itehad Islami Afghanistan (Afghanistan Islamic Unity). This is the most
fundamentalist party of the Front. Then there is Ahmed Shah party
Shoora Nizaar (Islamic Association).
The same people who did The 11th September event killed him on 9th
September. Ahmed Shah Massod was killed because the people of Asama
knew that he is the only capable person who can lead a resistance after
the 11th September. He was supported by many Western powers already. He
was a religious fanatic but recently ha had changed his position to
right wing ideas. Hizb Wahdat Islami is another party, which is part of
the Northern Alliance. NF is in full preparations to attack the
Talbaan. There have been fights at Mazar Sharif after 11th September.
80 Talbaan dead and 200 arrested. The fight is still going on so
Talbaan can loose Mezar Sharif very soon.
Ex general Doostam have got some Western support already and he is
moving forward.
On ex King Zahir Shah
He is an 89-year-old ex king who seemed to get the support of all the
parties in Afghanistan apart from Talbaan. The flag of Zahir Shah party
Are seen every where in Peshawar at least. This black, Red and green
color flags. Our party at this time supports him for a transitional
period. The American plan is to hand him powers after the fall of
Talbaan and then he can call elections in one-year time. But it clears
that he will not be able to solve the problems of the people. There is
a Persian saying that the "bad" is in power and there are some good
coming out of it, it is not that bad. So we have no other choice apart
from supporting him for a transitional period.
On American military intervention
We are totally opposed to American military intervention. But we are in
favor of an immediate ending of Talbaan government. The situation is
like this that American was bringing up a dog who has now gone mad. It
is the responsibility of American to control or kill the mad dog. We
will do our part to haunt down this mad dog which is dangerous for the
Afghan people. Talbaan were supported indirectly or directly by the
Americans and Pakistan in the hope of stabilizing Afghanistan but the
situation has gone out of their control.
On Shelter International This NGO was providing over bread to over 3
million Afghanis. The Talbaan regime arrested them for no reasons. The
food is gone. People are suffering now. This has even added to the
misery of the people and more hatred against the Talbaan government.
They wanted to control the NGO, s working in Afghanistan. This has not
gone well among the normal Afghanis.
Adil told that every one is sick and tired of Talbaan regime. They are
sick of the war. There is lot people waiting for the end of this
government. I do not see any possibility of Talbaan remaining in power
for a longer time. American strategy is to bring Zahir Shah into power.
He has already got the support of Northern Alliance and other Left and
right parties. We are waiting for the day to go back to Afghanistan.
[Interview by Farooq Tariq, General secretary, Labour Party Pakistan --
For a Democratic Socialist Pakistan www.labourpakistan.org ]
