Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

ISIS in Afghanistan; Is there any reality?

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ISIS in Afghanistan;  Is there any reality?

ISIS is the only extremist movement which is unanimously accepted as a threatening menace by all. This is rather a unique case because general public’s irrational sentimentalism towards Islam and Islamic movements always played its part to provide them with some public acceptance. Here, word ‘extremist’ might not be much appropriate but it is what the ‘Western’ media entitles them. Let’s take the example of Hamas. It has been banned internationally as an extremist and terror organization but in the Islamic world, it is taken as a group fighting to stop Israel from occupation of Palestinian lands. The way they have continued their mission for decades without any adequate resources also brings good reputation for them. They are considered to be a group of men who are fighting against a strong military against all odds and without any material rewards.

More or less is the case with Taliban. Taliban are considered a terror organization by all the powers of the world and majority of the Muslims of the region (including of Afghanistan and Pakistan) also share the same belief but in distant remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, there are large numbers of people who think that the group is fighting a holy war or Jihad against the foreign occupiers. According to Islamic rules, when a Non-Muslim power occupies your country with force, it becomes obligatory for all the adult men to fight against them and don’t accept their occupation at any rate. However, the decree or order comes with so many conditions which must be understood well before one decides to take part in this holy war. Of course, today’s young minds are dictated by some scholars according to their own thoughts and not according to the actual orders of Islamic teachings. Because of this mentality, Taliban are continuously getting the moral, financial and physical support from so many areas of both the countries. Now that Taliban have been ousted from power for more than a decade, their popularity saw rise and fall but it never plummeted to zero.

ISIS was not able to get such soft corner in hearts of Muslims because of a number of reasons. First, they utilized the most brutal and barbarous methods to treat their enemies. Internet is full of videos and pictures in which hundreds of prisoners were shot to death or slaughtered by them. The beheading of a number of Western journalists was given much coverage on the international media and spread much fear about them and raised the level of hatred. Though they do so in the name of Islam but Islamic scholars badly condemned these acts and termed to be absolutely Non-Islamic. Secondly, they damaged or destroyed the sacred places like shrines and tombs of Islamic saints and in this regard, did not discriminate between the Sunni or Shia. In the beginning, Sunni world was with them with their silent support, but after this unpopular act, they also turned against them. The third reason for their unpopularity is the dubious sources of their support. They have latest vehicles, automatic weaponry and adequate supply of money for their food and other needs, and the whole setup appears to be suspicious. Of course, such a big setup cannot be established and run with public donations. A number of such organizations that rely upon the public donations are really struggling to make their ends meet because majority of the Islamic countries have very small economies and the general public is also not financially sound and stable. It is a generally accepted opinion that they have the financial support of Saudi Arabia and some other rich Arab states but many go beyond this point as well. How a close ally of the US can dare to develop this force without the consent and financial support of US? It is the reason why, Arab media also accuses US of being the financial and strategic supporter of ISIS. It is a fact that the literate ones and those who have access to the media might have seen the true face of ISIS but our remote areas are always in danger to fall into their trap. The biggest problem is of those lunatics who keep dreaming of a traditional Islamic Caliphate and they are absolutely indifferent as how this happens. I noticed some people on Facebook congratulating each other for the resumption of Caliphate in Iraq in form of ISIS. They had expressed their hope that soon this Caliphate will be the only power in the Islamic world. If this is the mentality of people living in cities and having access to internet, we can easily understand the level of danger present in our villages and remote areas where only source of inspiration, knowledge and connection to the outside world is the religious scholar or ‘Mullah’ who has complete authority to lead them in any direction.

The recent tragic incident in Ghazni was quite alarming when militants killed more than 70 men and women in the same brutal way that is associated with ISIS. Our local journalists and political experts termed the situation to be alarming and termed it to be the emergence of ISIS in the country. Even if ISIS is not involved in it, there are certainly present those who seem to be impressed from the thoughts and strategies of ISIS.

In remote areas, there has always been a group who is angry of Western forces, Afghan government and security forces and regards them to be responsible for the sufferings of Afghans. This angry group has become so disappointed that they would welcome any power that should make them get rid of their enemies. For them, no cruelty or logic is going to make any difference.

A friend of mine told a story of a capital city of a province located in the bordering areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to him, the sentimental sermon of ‘Imam’ and resultant emotional slogans of people in the mosque was really alarming. The Imam first of all declared the foreign forces and their supporters (the Afghan government) the biggest enemies of Islam and after this, talked about importance of Jihad. Two of his companions started shouting in the mosque and hall of the mosque turned into a political arena where people were shouting in anger. This was the condition of a capital city of a province from which we can easily understand the situation in far-flung remote areas.

There were reports in media that pamphlets were distributed in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan and the bordering areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan to support the newly established Caliphate in Iraq and work for the same in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Though ISIS is not a threat now but if it is left unchecked by the government, it can turn into a threat that might not be very easy to be controlled. The above reports show that ISIS has definitely started its activities in our country but we are not sure if our security forces have also started their activities to control them. In past, such situations have been dealt very non-professionally which worsened the situation. In the case of ISIS, the willing support of religious scholars can be very helpful. It is possible that they might not be aware of the true face of ISIS. Once they are convinced, it would be very easy to control those hundreds and thousands of people living in remote areas and villages who see from the eye of Mullah and listen only to the words of Mullah.

(Muhammad Rasool Shah works as Academic Coordinator at Barakat Int’l School, Kabul. He can be reached at muhammadrasoolshah@gmail.com)

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