It seems that all the parties and all the incidents are leading towards a reconciliation process between Afghan government, Western allies and Taliban so as to have lasting peace in Afghanistan. After the reports of Taliban office in Qatar, there have been claims even by the Taliban that they are having negotiation with the US regarding a peace deal; the claim of Taliban's supreme commander Mullah Omar in this regard is the most considerable one. The Obama administration, however, neither accepted the claim nor denied.
The State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, in this regard, mentioned, "It is for the Afghans to decide on their peace talks, and the United States will support any such Afghan initiative…. This is not a peace that can be negotiated by us. It has to be negotiated primarily among Afghans." Nevertheless, it is now a crystal clear fact that US is after a deal before its troops withdraw completely. US officials, taking initiative, announced that Taliban are 'not enemy' so as to pave the way to negotiation and there are reports that some of the Taliban prisoners who were kept in Guantanamo are going to be released so as to proceed with the negotiations.
The Afghan government, after some preliminary hesitation, has now fully agreed to participate in the peace process being planned. Its earlier hesitation was related to the fear of being kept aloof of the process as the reports of Taliban office were not primarily discussed with Afghan government. Anyhow, now Afghan government is fully ready to have negotiation with Taliban. It has put its conditions for Taliban and has showed very optimistic approach for the process and hopes for more Afghanization of the process.
The term Afghanization is being used much in the context of reconciliation and the transition process. The Western allies have also been emphasizing on the Afghanization of the process and have been demanding more participation of Afghan authorities – at least theoretically. Nevertheless, there are doubts about the process being Afghanized – not only because Afghan governmental authorities have been kept aloof of the process but because of the process being kept alien for the people of Afghanistan. There is lack of accountability in the process and lack of representation of all the people of Afghanistan.
There has always been a gap between the ruling elite and the common people. The ruling stratum has not been able to penetrate within the lives of the common people. The people, in fact, suffer from the lack of basic requirements of life which can be easily attributed to the insecurity in the country. They can not have the luxury of talks for the sake of talks. They want tangible results and that can only be achieved when the process is really Afghanized – not just for the sake of the news!
Afghanization of the process does not mean only government representation in the negotiations; rather it must involve representatives of the opposition groups, minorities and other parties to the conflict. The government and Western allies have already announced that Taliban is 'not enemy', so it would be better to let those participate in the process as well who consider Taliban as their enemy and whom the Taliban consider enemy.
Yes, it is a fact that there is no other option that can guarantee a lasting peace in Afghanistan except negotiation but negotiation must be properly planned, carefully guided and must be in the favor of the majority of the people of Afghanistan. It is not important what a person having a secure and properly guarded residence wants but it is really important what those million of people want who do not have to fight with the scarcity of basic needs alone but also with the ghost of terrorism that is determined to swallow them hungrily.