DUSHANBE, 23.09.2021 (NIAT Khovar) –  Tajikistan is  the first country to clearly and unequivocally outline its position regarding the recent developments in Afghanistan. Its position was stated on August 25 at a meeting with the Foreign Minister of Pakistan in Dushanbe by the respected President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon.

He had also spoken about the situation in Afghanistan earlier this year on July 22. At that time he highlighted the fact that the situation in that country, unfortunately, was even more difficult and tragic, engendering serious concern in the countries in the region and the world.

For over 20 years, from different tribunes, the President of Tajikistan has been tirelessly calling on the world community to not be indifferent to Afghanistan’s problems. Recently Alexander Lukashenko correctly noted that “the President of Tajikistan, one might say, has been warning  about the extremely dangerous developments in Afghanistan for decades. We listened to it all, understood it (it’s not easy everywhere in the world), and likely perceived it as an unexceptional event. And how right he was!»

On August 25, the President of Tajikistan expressed the position of our country clearer and more concretely. The head of our state said that in order to urgently solve the political security problems of the neighboring country, it is necessary to create an inclusive government with the participation of all national minorities, including the Tajiks of Afghanistan who make up more than 46% of the population of this country.

“Tajikistan does not recognize any other government created through oppression and persecution, without taking into account the position of the entire people of Afghanistan, especially all of its national minorities,” he said.

He added that Tajiks should occupy a worthy place in the future government of Afghanistan.

The leader of Tajikistan said this at a time when other geopolitical players in the region were either silent or were content with general statements and expressions, trying to adhere to the proverb «run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.”

The President of Tajikistan gave everyone a warning signal. You cannot entrust the wolf with the protection of the sheep, because “the wolf is not a sheep’s friend. Once the wolf is put into the barn, he will devour all the sheep.”

The President warned the world community. He warned out of sincere conviction, and  not to talk for the sake of talking.

Firstly, this thought was expressed 800 years ago by the great Tajik-Persian poet and humanist Saadi Shirazi in his The Rose Garden (Gulistan):  “May the tiger meet his timely end / So that it can no longer torment defenseless sheep.”

Secondly, the President of Tajikistan knows firsthand what Islamic fundamentalism is. He, as all the people of Tajikistan, remembers the bloody civil war of 1992-1997, which was imposed by external circles and was unleashed precisely by Islamic fundamentalists, and during which 80,000 people were killed, 500,000 children were orphaned, and more than 800,000 citizens became refugees. It was President Emomali Rahmon who saved the country from the threat of disaster, rallied the people, and returned hundreds of thousands of refugees to their homeland. It is under the leadership of the President that the people of Tajikistan are still eliminating the grave consequences of that war.

Third, the President of Tajikistan declared the protection of national interests from internal and external threats, self-knowledge, national pride, and veneration of national shrines as the most important state tasks. These are, in fact, the core components of the national idea of Tajikistan. This has always been not only political, but also the life credo of our President. And we know that this credo is in demand in our country and enjoys the dominant support of the population.

Therefore, we are confident that the head of our state will defend this credo, — his internal position and convictions, — wisely and patiently presenting weighty arguments. He will defend the rights and interests of Tajiks wherever they may be. It is for these qualities that the respected Emomali Rahmon was elected the head of Paivand, World Forum of Tajiks and Persian-speaking People, in the first years after the country’s independence.

Parenthetically, the President of Russia also considers the oppression of Russian-speakers and all kinds of attacks on them all over the world as unacceptable. The President of the United States first and foremost defends the rights of Americans all over the globe. The well-being of Jews, wherever they may live, is the focus of the Israeli government. And all this is right and reasonable.

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“Tajikistan calls on the international community to take urgent measures to ensure peace and stability in Afghanistan and to stabilize the difficult political situation through negotiations as soon as possible,” said the President of Tajikistan. He added that the UN should play a key role in returning Afghanistan to normalcy.

The President of Tajikistan said that the usurpation (read: violent, illegal seizure) of power in a multiethnic country, like Afghanistan, by one ethnicity and representatives of one social group is not permissible!

This, according to international law, is a grave political offense.

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The civilized world community has heard the appeal of the President of Tajikistan, and responded, although very sluggishly, indistinctly, phlegmatically. To date, only two countries, namely Tajikistan and France, have refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Taliban-formed government of Afghanistan.

“I am surprised that all international human rights institutions remain silent and do not show any initiative to support the rights of the Afghan people. In addition, indifference to the fate of Afghanistan will lead to an increase in violence, a deterioration in the lives of its people, an outbreak of an imposed civil war on a scale comparable to the 1990s, a humanitarian catastrophe, the continuation of this country’s role as a breeding ground for international terrorism, and a serious threat to the security and stability of the region and that of other countries of the world,” regretfully noted the President of Tajikistan on September 8, at a meeting in Dushanbe dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Tajikistan.

How did the Taliban take over an entire country so quickly? Why cannot the world populated with 7.5 billion individuals, and which has reached the peak of technological progress, resolve the issue with 77,000 barefooted Taliban? Are they really that strong, these Taliban, and stronger than the world powers?

Certainly not! To think so is illogical and absurd. This is not about the uncivilized Taliban, but the civilized world, which does not really care about how the people of Afghanistan lived and will continue to live.

A few days ago marked exactly 20 years since the date of the largest and most monstrous terrorist attack in the history of mankind (September 11, 2001) in America. Do you remember?

It was evening, somewhere around 19:00 Dushanbe time. We were sitting in front of the television. Suddenly, we saw two planes crash into the World Trade Center towers in New York! A huge cloud of smoke and dust appeared against the background of the clear sky. Moments later, in a daze, we saw the towers fall. It was absolutely inconceivable. At first we thought they were showing some kind of a blockbuster. However, it was reality. CNN was broadcasting the terrorist attack live. Then we learned that approximately 3,000 people died as a result of this terrorist attack …

Following this, international security measures were significantly increased on airplanes and at airports. But how can we be sure that something like this will not happen again? Can we say that after 20 years the world has changed and has become safer to live in? I think not. Because we, people, have not ourselves changed. The world will change externally when people change internally.

People did not perceive nor do they now percieve this attack as a call for unification, to collectively fight terrorism and defeat it. On the contrary, the great powers have spent and continue to spend a lot of  time and money to enter into negotiations with terrorists, to establish relations with them in order to somehow protect themselves.

However, this is not the solution. This is the road to hell, to the gorge of death. This could set a dangerous precedent, where once emboldened by the Taliban’s victory, other radical and terrorist groups around the world could begin to act similarly as in the situation in Afghanistan. And the Taliban themselves, as reported by the world media, are not averse to acting as a single fist together with other terrorist groups to create a world caliphate. It was with the help of the Taliban that al-Qaeda leader Bin Laden at one time was hiding in Afghanistan. And now, as the CIA suggests, having seized power in Afghanistan, the Taliban are harboring the current head of al-Qaeda Ayman al-Zawahiri.

In other words, the threat of terrorism persists and is now even more global than ever. The leaders of the great powers, and the rest of the world, unfortunately, have not arrived at any serious conclusions. Each country acts alone, in isolation, without taking into account the opinions and interests of others. This was once again demonstrated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The other day, the head of WHO sounded the alarm about this, noting that the planet had not seen such a thing for more than a hundred years, since the outbreak of influenza in 1918. He said that the coronavirus is very dangerous and very difficult to deal with in a divided world.

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Where does this disunity come from? What is the cause of such indifference and detachment?

Its cause is that the countries and people of the world are not united, each pulling the blanket over himself and thinking solely about himself. There is no mutual understanding, trust, respect, or love for one another. There is no single goal for the good of humanity as a whole. Hence all the disputes, feuds, strife, and wars.

The reason for the disunity of people is their greed. Wealth has replaced love in the value system.

As was the case 800 years ago at the time of Saadi Shirazi, so it is today! Recall that in the same The Rose Garden he wrote: «Such famine was there once in Damascus that lovers forgot their love…«. Of course, this is not only about food shortages, but also about a lack of understanding, respect and love,- what we have seen in recent years not only in Damascus, the capital of Syria, but also in Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, and everywhere else.

All the people in the world have the same rights to enjoy the natural benefits of the world and the same rights to respect.

Save for the disagreements in our heads, all people on Earth are not that different from one another, because everything is created from the same material and atoms.

Human beings are members of a whole,

In creation of one essence and soul.

If one member is afflicted with pain,

Other members uneasy will remain.

If you have no sympathy for human pain,

The name of human you cannot retain.

This was also penned by the same Saadi. Eight centuries ago.

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Currently, some politicians are talking about the need to create a «security belt» around Afghanistan. It should be noted that this was one of the first international initiatives of the Republic of Tajikistan, voiced by the head of our state back in September 1998 at the UN General Assembly. Political analysts believe that after 23 years this has become even more relevant. But if it had been implemented then, before the tragic events of September 11 in the US, world history, most likely, would have moved along a different, more peaceful, trajectory.

But all is not lost. There is an opportunity to do it now. At least to start implementing it.

Yes, our President is absolutely right. Being a powerful organization, the United Nations must play a key role in returning Afghanistan to normalcy. This is especially worth recalling now, at the start of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, which officially started on September 14.

Today, on September 21, the session will open the General Debate week, with the participation of world leaders, in person and virtually. The general political discussion will continue until September 27.

By the way, as the press service of the world organization has reported, the speech of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, respected Emomali Rahmon, is scheduled for September 23. He, as well as the heads of many states, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and others, will speak via video link.

The session of the UN General Assembly includes 70 heads of state, 30 heads of government, and 20 foreign ministers. In addition to climate change, transition to clean energy, sustainable development, the agenda of the session includes a very urgent topic today — the situation in Afghanistan. And the main appeal of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to the participants, which was announced the day before, is this: “I am here to sound the alarm:  The world must wake up.  We are on the edge of an abyss — and moving in the wrong direction.”

Indeed, that’s exactly how things stand. This applies to the coronavirus pandemic, global warming, and of course, the situation in Afghanistan.

World leaders, the international community,  must support the proposal of the President of Tajikistan regarding Afghanistan, which they have already heard: To recognize only a government that can be called inclusive, and which will protect the rights of Tajiks and other ethnicities living in the country, presenting them with a worthy place in public administration, which will respect the rights of women, the elderly, children, the rights of the media, and will promote the development of culture, literature and art.

Any other government formed through oppression, persecution, without taking into account the position and interests of the entire Afghan people, cannot be officially recognized.

To date, this is the only correct, fair democratic proposal.

The world community must wake up and finally understand that the Taliban are consciously and purposefully pursuing a policy according to which humanity must live the same way it did when Islam appeared at the beginning of our era. That is, they believe that all this progress, science, education, technology, secular relations, is against God and must be dismantled.

Today, we must understand that the Taliban is a terrorist organization whose main goal is to destabilize the situation and create tension in society, which can become a fertile ground for further undermining the political regime and creating conditions for a change in the system. The common goal of the terrorists is to wreak havoc throughout the world. And they, the terrorists, who for the most part are illiterate, do not understand anything about politics or state management, do not choose this goal themselves, but rather are simply a tool in the hands of those who govern them and are interested in what is happening.

The world community must unite against this plague, provide comprehensive assistance to each other, develop a common strategy to combat this evil, stop thinking only about our individual national interests, and consider the interests of humanity as a whole, since, as the great Hafiz said, “we are all in one big boat named Earth.” If the ship sinks, we will all drown. Therefore, we are all responsible for what we do.

Otherwise it will be too late. Otherwise, the whole world will find itself in the new terrible and gloomy Middle Ages …

Director of the NIAT Khovar Saidali Siddik

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*The Taliban is considered to be a terrorist organization and is banned in Tajikistan and other countries.