KABUL: The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) announced amnesty for all former government officials soon after power takeover in mid-August last year.
Making his first public appearance to declare the takeover, Spokesman of IEA and Deputy to the Ministry of Information and Culture, Zabihullah Mujahid made it clear that the announced amnesty was reaching out even to those fighting against them face to face in battlefields.
However, a number of officials including technical and high qualified experts and academic cadres left the country in a flash.
The conference was the first not the last to announce such amnesty and call Afghanistan a safe haven for anyone. It has time and again stressed the trueness of its words by pardoning former government officials.
Recently, a fake Twitter account under the name of Abdul Salam Hanafi, Deputy Prime Minister of IEA tweeted that the former president of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani was to return to the country. The tweet added that Ashraf Ghani wanted to build an education institute in his hometown eastern Logar province and live there a non-political life. However, the spokesman and deputy of IEA strongly rejected the tweet saying that the Twitter account does not belong to the deputy prime minister.
“This Twitter under the name of Mawlavi Abdul Salam Hanafi, Deputy Prime Minister was a fake account. It is hoped that no one should trust it,” the IEA spokesman and deputy to the ministry, Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Fake news or reports – no matter how pleasing and attractive it is – should never be propagated and spread publicly as it could lead to serious outcomes.
On the other hand, after announcing the general amnesty, there is no need to re-announce it for each and single person for returning to the country, either former government authorities such as Ashraf Ghani or an ordinary official.
A government announced amnesty is not a word of an individual that bears no guarantee. The IEA government is committed to prepare the country for all Afghans and has repeatedly called it home for all of them regardless of their ethnicities, backgrounds, cultures and religions.
In addition, officials of different government sectors including Ministries of Education, Higher Education, Defense and Interior have called on those who have left the country to return and participate in building and developing the country alongside the Islamic Emirate.
Recently, the Ministry of Higher Education has announced a large number of vacancies to fill the positions of university lecturers and professors. However, that, in no sense, means the ministry does not care about the former occupants of those positions.
They made it solid clear that those who left their positions, can and should return in order to fill the gap once again and serve their country.
On the other hand, we have witnessed the treatment of the IEA government with those who came back and occupied their previous posts especially those five pilots that had fled the country after the IEA government gained control over the country. Thanks to the efforts and inspirations of acting Defense Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, they returned their homeland and received a warm welcome from the new authorities as well as Afghan nation, as this step was largely praised on social media outlets.
As announced more and more often, IEA has its doors opened for anyone with true patriotic intentions and morale for service to their homeland, Afghanistan.
Rahmat Shah Faraz
Any Afghan can return home, resume ordinary lives
