Tuesday, June 23, 2020

The US-Taliban Deal: A ray of hope for the battered Afghans

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Aditi Mohta

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The US-Taliban Deal: A ray of hope for the battered Afghans

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Global Views 360

Publication Date

June 23, 2020

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US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo participates in a signing ceremony in Doha, Qatar, on February 29, 2020

US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo participates in a signing ceremony in Doha, Qatar, on February 29, 2020 | Source: U.S. Department of State  via Wikimedia

On 11 September 2001, the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon in America killed over 3000 people for which Osama Bin Laden, the head of Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility.. Osama Bin Laden was based in Afghanistan during this attack and was protected by the government of the day which was run by the radical Islamist group Taliban. Even after the repeated demands from the USA government, Taliban refused to hand over Osama bin Laden to the USA. 

George W. Bush, the president of America at that point of time, announced the first airstrikes against Afghanistan on 7 October 2001. As other countries joined in, the Taliban were quickly removed from power and a new pro-western government was installed. The new government, however, was never able to run its writ over the whole country. The Taliban regrouped and started gaining influence in the vast rural areas and continuously attacked the US-led international military coalition as well as Afghan forces. From that point onward, the U.S. and its allies have battled to stop Afghanistan's administration crumbling and to end attacks by the Taliban. 

After more than eighteen years of war in Afghanistan, on 29 February 2020, the United States and Taliban signed a peace deal which was the first step in ending the war. The agreement was signed in the Qatari capital Doha between Talibani political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad. The U.S. Defence Secretary Mark Esper said that signing of the accord would be a good step to end the war, the road ahead would not be secure. There would be a full withdrawal of all U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan within 14 months since the signing of the deal. The Taliban promised to cut ties with Al Qaeda and keep fighting the militant Islamic State group.  

What is in the peace agreement?

The peace agreement was signed after nine rounds of discussion and it contains four main points: cease-fire, withdrawal of foreign forces, intra-Afghan negotiations, and counter-terrorism assurances. 

  1. Cease-fire: The negotiators agreed to a temporary reduction in violence. They said that a permanent and comprehensive cease-fire will be an item on the agenda of the intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiations. 
  2. Withdrawal of foreign forces: Within the first 135 days, the U.S. will reduce its troops in Afghanistan from roughly 12,000 to 8,600, along with the allies of the U.S. also withdrawing their forces proportionately. If the Taliban follows through all the commitments that in the peace deal, all the U.S. troops along with the allies' troops will leave Afghanistan within fourteen months. 
  3. Counter-terrorism assurances: The United States invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, mainly to eliminate the threat of terrorism and halt terrorist activities in the country. As a part of the agreement, the Taliban guaranteed that Afghanistan would not be used by any of its members or terrorist groups to threaten the security of the U.S. and its allies. 
  4. Intra-Afghan negotiations: The reason behind the intra-Afghan talks is to bring together negotiators from the Taliban and Afghan government. The peace deal also calls for an exchange of prisoners before the intra-Afghan negotiations. The intra-Afghan talks which were supposed to take place in March 2020, have been delayed. 

Challenges to the peace deal

While this deal can be seen as a stepping stone towards a more comprehensive agreement, many difficulties may come in the way. 

The United States and the Taliban had consented to the arrival of up to 5000 Taliban prisoners in return for up to one thousand Afghan security forces. However, the Afghan government said that it had not agreed on such an exchange. The process can become difficult due to a weak central government along with ethnic, tribal and sectarian differences. At the same time, many people say that the Taliban has gotten more than it gave up. 

Through the deal, the Taliban got their primary wish: removal of American troops from Afghanistan. Yet, they had failed to be specific about the civil rights that they had repressed when they were in power. The insurgents pledged to keep international terrorist groups like Al Qaeda from using Afghanistan as their base for attacks. 

The United States promised to work towards the gradual removal of Taliban leaders from the sanction blacklists of America and the United Nations. At the same time, the experts say that the Taliban is stronger than ever at this point. It controls many districts throughout the country and continues to launch significant attacks including in Kabul and on Afghan security forces. 

The peace process is also faced by the problem of the illegal drug trade. According to Afghan officials, more than 20 terrorist groups still operate inside the country, which is another threat to the deal. By signing the agreement, the U.S. and the Taliban state their commitment to reduce violence and not attack each other. What remains a worry is how much and how long the Taliban will hold fire on Afghan security forces before the cease-fire is finally reached in Afghan negotiations.

Sources that were used:

  1. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/29/world/asia/us-taliban-deal.html
  2. http://diplomatist.com/2020/05/16/us-taliban-peace-deal-and-its-implications-for-central-asia/
  3. https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2020/02/war-afghanistan-2001-invasion-2020-taliban-deal-200229142658305.html
  4. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51689443
  5. https://www.dawn.com/news/1529415
  6. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-taliban-peace-deal-agreement-afghanistan-war
  7. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/afghanistan-taliban-sign-deal-america-longest-war-200213063412531.html
  8. https://www.dawn.com/news/1537384
  9. https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/u-s-taliban-peace-deal/7aab0f58-dd5c-430d-9557-1b6672d889c3/?itid=lk_inline_manual_3

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February 4, 2021 4:49 PM

Paradise for wildlife created on a private land in India

Amidst the horror filled reports and anecdotes making it to the news bulletin in 2020, a wonderful story of altruism emerges from Rajasthan, India. Complete lockdowns followed by nations might have brought down our productivity and economy but it gave nature a chance to heal from the torments it faced due to us humans. However, Aditya and Poonam Singh, a couple from Rajasthan lent the environment a helping hand in speeding up the process of bringing biodiversity back to life.

The couple moved to Sawai Madhopur, a city in Rajasthan near Ranthambore Tiger reserve, in 1998. It was his passionate love for nature that made Aditya quit his prestigious Civil services job, give up the comfortable city life of New Delhi and shift to Rajasthan. In fact, his wife, Poonam was the one who suggested they move since both of them fell in love with Ranthambore when they first visited the National Park. “My first sighting was a tigress with three cubs on a hill. It was magical. At the end of the trip, I just asked him if we can move to Ranthambore. He wanted it too and within months we moved” says an ecstatic Poonam Singh.

After moving, they started a tourist resort as a means of earning their daily bread. Gradually, Mr. Aditya started purchasing the barren agricultural fields around Ranthambore Tiger reserve (RTR), an area known as Bhadlav (now Bhadlao). These fields would often be visited by predators like tigers, had no access to good roads or electricity, and were not being used extensively for farming. Due to such dangerous circumstances Mr. Singh got  fields at a cheap price from the owners who wanted to sell and move out.

Mr Singh left these plots of land for a long time to the mercy of nature and they soon grew into plush mini forests with two natural water holes. He also constructed a few artificial water holes for the animals visiting the area during summer heat. “I just bought this and did nothing to it except removing the invasive species. We allowed the land to recover and now after 20 years it has become a lush green patch of forest which is frequently visited by all kinds of animals, including tigers, leopards and wild boars, throughout the year,” says Singh.

These mini forests provide shelter and protection to those sub-adult tigers which are driven towards the edges of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve. Additionally, the couple is also working towards building a homestay for tourists which will be powered by renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. Mr. Singh’s beautiful story of their 40 acres huge sanctuary was shared to the public by The World Economic Forum via twitter and his efforts were highly lauded by millions of people.

The once barren fields which are now lush green forest have seen tremendous growth in commercial value. Mr Singh is regularly approached by suiters for sales or joint development of this area however he has never entertained these proposals. He says..  “Money was never the consideration. It is just about my love for nature and wildlife” Such unselfish acts are indeed rare in today’s times. Aditya and Poonam Singh are indeed a prime example of late Mahatma Gandhi’s saying ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’.

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