Peace is the ultimate need of Afghans; not only of Afghans but of every human being on this planet. After three decades of war and conflict, the government of Afghanistan backed by international community thought to bring peace to Afghanistan through negotiation and reconciliation with its armed opposition, the Taliban. As publicity about the reconciliation program was intensified by Hamid Karzai administration, hopes of peace through negotiations also grew in the hearts and minds of Afghan people.

But with assassination of Burhand ud Din Rabbani, ex president of Afghanistan and Head of High Peace Council (HPC), the dream of Afghan government and people seems to have broken into pieces.

President Hamid Karzai has said, the little connection its administration had formed with low-level leadership of Taliban has broken with the death of Rabbani. In the trilateral summit of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey held earlier this month, a decision was made to investigate the assassination of Rabbani. But Rabbani is not the only one who has been murdered. In 2011 only, several influential personalities including Karzai's own brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, have been targeted. Will there be no investigation about their assassinations?

To many in Afghanistan, the peace reconciliation program was nothing than a symbolic process. That only caused the gap between government and public to further increase. President Karzai has said: There is no chance of talks with Taliban in the near future. He has stopped calling Taliban as his brothers and no more invites them to give up violence and join the normal Afghan society. This quite an abrupt change in the view of Karzai. The inconsistencies in the policy of the government have greatly lessened the trust of people.

The peace reconciliation program with Taliban has been a great failure of government. Certain bigger events are ahead of us – Loya Jirga and Bonn-2 Conference. The Afghans hope, the government can use these events to benefit peace in Afghanistan and put the experience it has gained from its mistakes into practice. Those who do not learn from their past mistakes are doomed to repeat them.