The blood-stained history of Afghanistan is fraught with wars and violence.
Afghanistan throughout its history faced numerous foreign invaders with resilience and fortitude and has become the graveyard of empires.
Afghan people in their long journey of social evolution went through several schools of thought. but in the end, they not only accepted Islam as their way of life, but they also made it part of their daily existence! During the past centuries, this warrior nation has proved that Islam is inseparable from them. And, they went through water and fire with tremendous sacrifices to uphold the dignity of their pristine faith!
All social experiments have failed to exclude Islam from the afghan psyche! Only a handful of Afghan elites due to their materialistic inclinations have marginalized the influence of Islam in their lives, though the majority of the masses who believe in Islam, practice Islam!
British attempted thrice to conquer Afghanistan and make it a buffer state between India and Russia, but they failed despite their bloody attempts.
In the sequence of history then came the Soviets with all their might in the ’80s of the last century to teach the faithful Afghans the lessons of atheism, the virtuous Afghans rejected the obnoxious ideology of communism. They stood face to face with the mighty Soviets and defeated it after 9 years of prolonged war! Soviets left Afghanistan with utter humiliation.
Satan exits, and the devil enters!
After the military defeat of the Russians, the crusaders in the guise of Nato i.e. North Atlantic terrorist organization swooped upon the poor afghans with their so-called mission for a liberated Afghanistan! But, what really happened during the past 20 years of American occupation!
A puppet government alienated from its own people was installed in Kabul that was corrupt from head to toes! Afghan economy was devastated. All foreign money went to the pockets of corrupt leaders.
Opium production and trade increased many folds than it was in the time of the previous Taliban government (200 tons in previous Taliban time to 9,500 tons during occupancy).
Narcotics consumption tripled. CIA was involved in drug trafficking in collusion with the Afghan rulers. Villages were bombed to rubble and innocent lives were lost. The brutal aggression did not spare men, women old and
children alike. 2, 76,000 Afghans were killed by the allied forces! 80,000 Taliban members lost their lives. A deep scar has been left by the USA on Afghan society!
At last, the longest war of American history came to an end! With Allah’s help, the Taliban came out victorious after much pain and agony. The USA left Afghanistan in shame and awe.
This is a new dawn for Afghan Muslim nation to chart their way to an infinite future. Following the famous dictum of shah Waliullah Dehlvi the 18th-century philosopher of Delhi -destroy all other orders to establish Islamic order -a new social order must be set in motion.
A new socio-politico-economic order is urgently needed by the oppressed Afghan people for a prosperous and enlightened future. They suffered unspeakable sufferings century after century by foreign aggressors and local despots.
Now is the time for a new beginning. The new government must shun all types of weaknesses in creating an all-inclusive society. Sectarian outlook must be avoided and women should be given proper dignity as per Quranic and prophetic teachings!
Corruption must be uprooted from Afghan soil. And, the government must keep alert on the activities of the notorious group ISIS that has been carried from the Middle East to Afghanistan by the CIA to continue the proxy war for the west! Serious thought must be given to a balanced foreign policy!
A new approach to international relations should be adopted as all the countries are interdependent for their growth and survival. Educational philosophy and system should be reformed according to the guidelines of Muslim philosophers of past and present. Afghanistan badly needs a new kind of bureaucracy imbued with Islamic values.
And foremost, Afghanistan needs a functioning economy to sustain its hard-earned victory. and, it has tremendous potential for a bright economic future as it is endowed with enormous deposits of iron, copper, lithium, rare earth elements, cobalt, bauxite, mercury, uranium, and chromium whose value has been estimated at more than 1 trillion us dollars.
Aside from this, Afghanistan is famous for its gemstones -rubies, emeralds, tourmalines, and lapis lazuli. It has gas also! a complete scientific understanding of these resources is necessary for their proper utilization. and, sooner the exploration begins will it be better for the Afghan nation.
Obviously, Afghanistan will face challenges in tapping its vast resources internally and externally. Due vigilance and prudence are required on the part of the new government in harnessing the latent potential of the natural resources of a country that has been kept in dire poverty by corrupt politicians and their foreign masters for decades.
Hopefully, Afghanistan could also be an outsourcing hub like Bangladesh and Vietnam for foreign manufacturing giants as cheap labor and raw material are abundantly available there.
For a sound functioning economy, Afghanistan needs a stable financial network! The central bank of Afghanistan will remain the apex organization of this network that will design, guide, and monitor the new afghan economy. So, the central bank of Afghanistan needs an urgent overhaul to cater to the needs of the time. Foreign experts should be hired, if necessary, to reform the central bank of Afghanistan.
once friend turned enemy us not only stopped its assistance also froze afghan assets worth 9.5 billion dollars.EU also showing an inimical attitude towards a country that strives to exist with its religious identity! IMF stopped funding to Afghanistan.
To subdue an indomitable enemy whom they have failed to conquer militarily the west is trying to take revenge on Afghans by creating a liquidity crisis for the new government.
It is for sure that America and its allies will try to regain its lost position by exploiting the emergent impasse in the present situation.
The US knows the strengths and weaknesses of the Taliban administration and its demand for cash in running the government. So, a careful attitude is needed in appraising offers from the elusive enemy.
Afghanistan is a poor country yet it is a country of hope and courage. the Muslims across the globe are waiting to catch a glimpse of a future Afghanistan where there exists no hunger, poverty, corruption, exploitation of man by man and human rights are held high!
The Afghanistan people with their unparalleled fighting spirit and prudent diplomacy will be able to face and fail all sorts of conspiracies and intrigues hatched by cunning foes to usher in a new dawn for the oppressed.
Author: Ali Ahmed
working in the central bank of Bangladesh
