Every time Pakistanis talk about Afghanistan, I cannot help but notice how blissfully unaware of the prevailing anti-Pakistan sentiments on the Western side of their border many of them are.
I was reminded of this again when Pakistani actor Hamza Ali Abbasi, known for his controversial statements, decided to thank the Afghan Taliban following the release of Shahbaz Taseer, slain governor Salmaan Taseer’s son, from his captors last week. This bizarre expression of gratitude towards a terrorist group was apparently due to reports that the Haqqani faction had played a role in setting Taseer free, and Abbasi’s belief that the Afghan Taliban are a legitimate resistance force fighting foreign occupation in Afghanistan.
Not surprisingly, Abbasi’s statement caused a stir in Pakistan. A couple of days later, he returned to the topic and wondered on his Facebook page that if the TTP and Afghan Taliban were both the same terrorists, why was Pakistan fighting against the TTP but negotiating peace with the Afghan Taliban – along with China, the US and the Afghan government (he placed the term Afghan government in quotes, to suggest he did not believe in its legitimacy). “If Afghan Taliban do not have the support of local Afghans, how come they are still fighting strong after almost a decade of US invasion, while the TTP is almost eliminated by Pakistan Army?” He asked.
As I read Abbasi’s post in Kabul, it seemed out of touch with reality. Such views are, however, not uncommon among right-leaning Pakistanis. In Afghanistan, statements such as Abbasi’s are the reason why Pakistan is disliked with a passion.
When I moved to Kabul after having spent over a year working in Pakistan, I was wholly unprepared for the strong negative reactions that any mention of Pakistan would cause in the vast majority of Afghans I came in contact with. This included people from all ethnic groups, students, housewives, high-level government officials and men in bazaars. Pakistan was the enemy. Pakistan was behind every single act of terrorism on the Afghan soil. Pakistan was evil.
If Afghans seem to find it hard to agree on much anything these days when it comes to politics, the topic of Pakistan seems to be a rare exception. Nothing unites like a common enemy, as they say.
Some Pakistanis would be quick to blame this on India’s influence in the neighboring country. Surely the Afghans must have been brainwashed by the conniving Indians.
The reality, however, is that Pakistan has long since lost the hearts and minds in Afghanistan. It will prove close to impossible to escape the flawed policy decisions of the past that have contributed to the miserable situation Afghanistan still finds itself in today. Simultaneously, it is not just historical baggage that weighs down the relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan. There is a widespread belief that Pakistan is in complete control of the Afghan Taliban and that the current peace talks are Pakistan’s effort to put the Taliban back in power in Kabul and thus gain more influence across its Western border. Most Most Afghans have no sympathy for either the Taliban or Pakistan, whom they perceive to be more or less one and the same.
Comments such as Abbasi’s show how disconnected from the ground realities many Pakistanis are when it comes to Afghanistan.
This is not to say that Pakistan alone is to be blamed for the state Afghanistan is in. The Afghan Taliban would have continued to exist even if it wasn’t for ISI’s support. The US, Saudi Arabia, Iran and India have obviously also played their part in the wars that continue to plague the country, not to mention the Soviet Union. Still, there is no doubt Pakistan is the least popular of these nations in Afghanistan.
Afghans can sometimes get a little carried away in their hatred of Pakistan, confusing policy with people, government with citizens and army with civilians. It can go as far as refusing to admit that cricket only became popular in Afghanistan after Afghan refugees brought it back with them from Pakistan, because this would connect Pakistan to something positive.
I have had countless conversations in Kabul about Pakistan, where I have tried to explain that not everyone in the country agrees with Islamabad’s policies towards Afghanistan, and that most educated Pakistanis are well aware of the self-defeating role their country has played in their neighboring country’s past.
But what right-leaning Pakistanis, both at grassroots and policymaking level, must let go of is the notion of “good Taliban” and “bad Taliban”. Regardless of what one thinks of the US invasion and the following war on terror that has now lasted almost 14 years with no end in sight, it is the Afghans that Pakistan must hear out on this one, if the relations with the Western neighbor are to be improved.
It would be difficult to find anyone in Kabul who wants to return to the dark days of the Taliban. Similarly, very few would want to sacrifice the gains of the past 14 years just so that the interests of outside powers could be secured.
Therefore, the Afghan Taliban must be recognized for what they are, and the group must not be confused with romanticized notions that are associated with the mujahedeen of the 1980s. The Taliban have continued to target civilians, media personnel and aid workers, and they have been repeatedly accused of crimes against humanity.
This does not mean that Afghans, or anyone criticizing Pakistan’s role in the country, would be blind to the excesses of the US in the war, such as the civilian victims of drone strikes or the bombing of the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz, to cite some of the more recent examples.
It is, of course, easy to make comments from the relative safety of Islamabad or Lahore while regular Afghans must wonder every single day if their loved-ones will be bombed to death on their way home from work or school. A sobering visit to Kabul would do good for the Afghanistan experts of Pakistan.
I was reminded of this again when Pakistani actor Hamza Ali Abbasi, known for his controversial statements, decided to thank the Afghan Taliban following the release of Shahbaz Taseer, slain governor Salmaan Taseer’s son, from his captors last week. This bizarre expression of gratitude towards a terrorist group was apparently due to reports that the Haqqani faction had played a role in setting Taseer free, and Abbasi’s belief that the Afghan Taliban are a legitimate resistance force fighting foreign occupation in Afghanistan.
Not surprisingly, Abbasi’s statement caused a stir in Pakistan. A couple of days later, he returned to the topic and wondered on his Facebook page that if the TTP and Afghan Taliban were both the same terrorists, why was Pakistan fighting against the TTP but negotiating peace with the Afghan Taliban – along with China, the US and the Afghan government (he placed the term Afghan government in quotes, to suggest he did not believe in its legitimacy). “If Afghan Taliban do not have the support of local Afghans, how come they are still fighting strong after almost a decade of US invasion, while the TTP is almost eliminated by Pakistan Army?” He asked.
As I read Abbasi’s post in Kabul, it seemed out of touch with reality. Such views are, however, not uncommon among right-leaning Pakistanis. In Afghanistan, statements such as Abbasi’s are the reason why Pakistan is disliked with a passion.
When I moved to Kabul after having spent over a year working in Pakistan, I was wholly unprepared for the strong negative reactions that any mention of Pakistan would cause in the vast majority of Afghans I came in contact with. This included people from all ethnic groups, students, housewives, high-level government officials and men in bazaars. Pakistan was the enemy. Pakistan was behind every single act of terrorism on the Afghan soil. Pakistan was evil.
If Afghans seem to find it hard to agree on much anything these days when it comes to politics, the topic of Pakistan seems to be a rare exception. Nothing unites like a common enemy, as they say.
Some Pakistanis would be quick to blame this on India’s influence in the neighboring country. Surely the Afghans must have been brainwashed by the conniving Indians.
The reality, however, is that Pakistan has long since lost the hearts and minds in Afghanistan. It will prove close to impossible to escape the flawed policy decisions of the past that have contributed to the miserable situation Afghanistan still finds itself in today. Simultaneously, it is not just historical baggage that weighs down the relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan. There is a widespread belief that Pakistan is in complete control of the Afghan Taliban and that the current peace talks are Pakistan’s effort to put the Taliban back in power in Kabul and thus gain more influence across its Western border. Most Most Afghans have no sympathy for either the Taliban or Pakistan, whom they perceive to be more or less one and the same.
Comments such as Abbasi’s show how disconnected from the ground realities many Pakistanis are when it comes to Afghanistan.
This is not to say that Pakistan alone is to be blamed for the state Afghanistan is in. The Afghan Taliban would have continued to exist even if it wasn’t for ISI’s support. The US, Saudi Arabia, Iran and India have obviously also played their part in the wars that continue to plague the country, not to mention the Soviet Union. Still, there is no doubt Pakistan is the least popular of these nations in Afghanistan.
Afghans can sometimes get a little carried away in their hatred of Pakistan, confusing policy with people, government with citizens and army with civilians. It can go as far as refusing to admit that cricket only became popular in Afghanistan after Afghan refugees brought it back with them from Pakistan, because this would connect Pakistan to something positive.
I have had countless conversations in Kabul about Pakistan, where I have tried to explain that not everyone in the country agrees with Islamabad’s policies towards Afghanistan, and that most educated Pakistanis are well aware of the self-defeating role their country has played in their neighboring country’s past.
But what right-leaning Pakistanis, both at grassroots and policymaking level, must let go of is the notion of “good Taliban” and “bad Taliban”. Regardless of what one thinks of the US invasion and the following war on terror that has now lasted almost 14 years with no end in sight, it is the Afghans that Pakistan must hear out on this one, if the relations with the Western neighbor are to be improved.
It would be difficult to find anyone in Kabul who wants to return to the dark days of the Taliban. Similarly, very few would want to sacrifice the gains of the past 14 years just so that the interests of outside powers could be secured.
Therefore, the Afghan Taliban must be recognized for what they are, and the group must not be confused with romanticized notions that are associated with the mujahedeen of the 1980s. The Taliban have continued to target civilians, media personnel and aid workers, and they have been repeatedly accused of crimes against humanity.
This does not mean that Afghans, or anyone criticizing Pakistan’s role in the country, would be blind to the excesses of the US in the war, such as the civilian victims of drone strikes or the bombing of the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz, to cite some of the more recent examples.
It is, of course, easy to make comments from the relative safety of Islamabad or Lahore while regular Afghans must wonder every single day if their loved-ones will be bombed to death on their way home from work or school. A sobering visit to Kabul would do good for the Afghanistan experts of Pakistan.