The efforts regarding the reconciliation process with Taliban both by Afghan government and US do not seem to be bearing any fruit. The reconciliation process has undergone another setback, as Hezb-i-Islami has also announced that it is suspending every sort of peace talks with the Afghan government and US. According to the reports, Qaribur Rahman Saeed, a representative of Hezb-i-Islami in Europe, has said that his group was suspending formal talks because neither Afghan nor American officials would seriously consider the group's 15-point peace proposal (The plan calls for the withdrawal of coalition forces in six months, holding new elections and possibly rewriting the Afghan Constitution.

Hezb-i-Islami calls it the National Rescue). Though there were evident possibilities that the talks would not reach to a fruitful conclusion because of many inherent deficiencies and drawbacks; even the slightest possibility of any sort of improvement in the peace talks has been lost. Taliban had already announced halt in the talks with Afghan government and the US earlier this month. Now, the claims that the so-called reconciliation process may decide something worthwhile regarding the future of the country are doomed to failure as they, from the very beginning, did not have the capacity to accomplish the challenges of the ongoing scenario.

There have been various controversies and deficiencies that have been highlighted every now and then by different intellectuals, writers and politicians since the very beginning of the peace negotiations with Taliban. The efforts of Afghan government, though claimed to be very much comprehensive, have proved to be very meager. High Peace Council (HPC) that was established to shoulder the important responsibility of tackling the peace talks with Taliban has not been able to produce tangible outcomes.

The process has instead made the people of Afghanistan very much pessimistic about their future. What has been the total achievement of the process has been best depicted in the International Crisis Group's (ICG's) report – Talking about Talks: Toward a Political Settlement in Afghanistan, "The government's efforts to start negotiations have been both half-hearted and haphazard. Amid fundamental disagreements over the very meaning of reconciliation, the process appears focused on political accommodation with a phalanx of unsavoury powerbrokers.

The rhetorical clamour over talks about talks has led to desperate and dangerous moves on the part of the government to bring purported leaders from the three main insurgent groups – the Taliban, Hizb-e Islami and the Haqqani network – to the negotiating table. This state of confusion has stoked fears among ethnic minorities, civil society and women that the aim of Karzai's reconciliation policy is primarily to shore up his constituency among conservative Pashtun elites at the expense of hard-fought protections for Afghan citizens.

A thorough reassessment of Karzai's national reconciliation policy, the role of the High Peace Council and the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program (APRP) is urgently needed. The program has faced staunch resistance from local security officials mistrustful of participants' motives, and its impact has been minimal at best."And Yes, there have been some "desperate and dangerous moves" on the part of government to bring Taliban leader to negotiation table.

Even the US has not hesitated to take some risky steps so as to attract Taliban for the talks. High Peace Council, on Saturday March 03, 2012, disclosed that US had agreed to release five of the Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay.

According to the claim, the released Taliban leaders will be transferred to Qatar so as to live with their families. Mohammad Ismael Qasimyar, in this regard, has said, "The US wants an assurance from Qatari government that the men will not return to militancy. They will live with their families in Qatar and not exit that country." Such steps clearly show that Afghan government and US both are really desperate to achieve something, no matter if that proves detrimental for the future of stability in Afghanistan, in negotiations with Taliban.

They are so desperate that they are ready to neglect the concerns of minority groups, civil society members and women who will be highly influenced by such decisions. What they care is a patch-up that may help the process seem attractive; but that, in fact, is making it uglier.

Even if the Taliban are ready to participate in the negotiations, the current setup for talks does not fulfill the requirements of a true and proper effort as it won't be able to solve the basic issues that are dominating the Afghan socio-political scenario. Moreover, there are some very basic deficiencies within the Afghan political setup that need to be addressed before proceeding with the reconciliation process.

Among them the need for a parliamentary form of government, with true representation and authority to the elected members of parliament and less authoritative rule of the president is the most dominant one. Unless such basic issues are solved, any sort of reconciliation with Taliban may not yield satisfactory result and may ultimately invite an era of chaos and civil war.

As the ICG report suggests, "Although the Karzai government should undoubtedly take the lead in any negotiations with insurgents, it appears incapable of articulating and implementing a vision of a political settlement that is acceptable to its political opposition, let alone armed insurgent groups.

The challenges to the process are multiple, including heightened violence, ethnic tensions and deep fissures within the government itself. The appointment of a small team of negotiators who reflect Afghanistan's ethnic, political and social diversity, and who are fully empowered to sit at the table with representatives of the international community would, therefore, be critical to the overall effort."

So, any sort of reconciliation with Taliban can bear fruit once it is truly Afghanized i.e. it is carried on with the intention to yield maximum and favorable outcome for all the people of Afghanistan, including minority groups, civil society members and women. The challenge is not to bring Taliban to the negotiation table, the true challenge is to manage a negotiation process that can result into sustainable peace and tranquility in the country and that can promise a better and tranquil future for the generations to come.