Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Not to Pardon Again

When last year, on the occasion of Eid ul Fiter, President Hamid Karzai pardoned 18 teenagers who were arrested because of having plans of terrorist attacks in mind, the President seemed quite excited thinking that his forgiveness would change the mindset of those young terrorists. In addition to gifts and monetary rewards, some of these teenagers were offered scholarships to study abroad.

Nonetheless, Karzai's decision was strongly criticized by certain political and non-political circles in the country. That time such criticisms must have looked quite baseless and useless to Mr. President and to the people who had advised him to do so. But the time has proved that Karzai's decision to show sympathy to terrorists has been entirely wrong bearing no sweet fruit.

Afghan security forces have arrested two of the 18 teenagers pardoned by Karzai last year along with other militants in Kandahar. "The two ten-year old would-be bombers were arrested along with three other militants last week, while planning an attack on Afghan and international forces in Kandahar", Zalmai Ayubi the provincial spokesman told AFP.

The children had two vests full of explosives when they were detained, he added. If they had been successful in their plan, death of innocent people would not be preventable. This should be taken as a lesson by our President.

It is not so that this is the first time the terrorists responded opposite to what Afghan President requested from them. At least in the last three years, Karzai has, for several times, called upon the Taliban to renounce violence and return to a normal life.

Karzai even went a step further by calling Afghan militants as his 'annoyed brothers' but all these calls of Karzai that apparently were based on sincerity fell on deaf ears. Last year, in a series of targeted killings the Taliban assassinated certain high-profile Afghan figures including Ahmad Wali Karzai, brother to Karzai and Burhan ud Din Rabban, ex-Afghan President and chairperson of High Peace Council (HPC).

The come-back of forgiven youths with plan to conduct suicide attacks signals that militants do not understand the language of sympathy and kindness, they have to be treated sternly. Also, utilizing children by Taliban to launch terror attacks is an unforgivable crime.