The Afghan Ulema Council and High Peace Council bristled with anger and have condemned strongly the terrorist act which led to the death of Arsala Jamal, governor of Logar province, on Eid day. The explosives were planted inside a mosque, a sacred place for Muslims. This act reveals the evil deeds of Taliban more than ever before. Moreover, the pages of the Holy Quran were caught on a CCTV which were burnt and dispersed by the explosion. This is an index of the insurgents’ moral decline and immoral acts. Such a blatant insult to Muslims’ beliefs and virulent terrorist acts are beyond belief and are intolerable. In my point of view, Muslims must express their revulsion about this sacrilegious act through public demonstrations.
In case, if such attacks on the mosques or burning the Sacred Book had been done by non-Muslims, it would be construed in many ways by the Taliban-led insurgents. The Taliban militants would have mobilized the opposition and would have pitted of Muslims against non-Muslims; which might have lead to a highly turbulent situation. In addition, I remember the large and angry demonstrations of Afghan people in Mazar province which led to the death of some foreigners who were not involved in the crime of blasphemy. In Kandahar too, demonstrations was launched against foreign forces when the Holy Quran was burned unintentionally in their military base. At that time people were not sure whether that was the act of foreign forces or the Taliban militants. Hence, now it is time to launch demonstrations against the Taliban militants in support of our religious beliefs. If no actions be taken against such Islamic reactionaries, they will be encouraged to have their will in future.
Playing game with the religious beliefs, and destroying the scripture of other sects is strongly condemned by Islam. But Taliban have always violated Islamic laws and disrespected the religious values and social norms of the societies in one way or another. After all, the insurgents mostly vent their anger at innocent civilians and target them without any reason. Of course, killing thousands of Afghan people during their regime did not cool their bloodthirsty feelings, and they continue their inhuman acts of terror amongst the people.
To take a retrospective look at Taliban’s regime, they ruled Afghanistan entirely by dictatorship. Afghan people still wince at the tragic memory of Taliban’s regime and their bloody war. In other words, Taliban militants murdered thousands of innocent Muslims without feeling a tinge of guilt. The ghost of Taliban’s nightmare still haunts the hearts and minds of Afghan people. Their unconscionable acts, heinous crime and attitudes towards men, women and children were against Islamic and public morals. History will condemn such acts.
It is beyond doubt that kindness to Taliban insurgents is equal to unkindness to the terrorist victims. In other words, if Taliban do not get punished for their deadly acts of terror and if their leaders in prison be released, they find more encouragement to continue their lethal acts and murder innocent people. Of course, on emerging from prison they will re-join their groups again to organize attack on people and government authorities. The Afghan government did not take any serious action against Taliban within the last decade of so-called democratic rule. Mostly the reactions of Afghan authorities especially of Mr. President to the Taliban’s deadly actions were sympathetic. Hence, such attitudes boosted the morale of the insurgents more than ever before which led to the loss of larger numbers of lives.
The Ulema Council has condemned these acts and this condemnation is very sensible. They have truly fulfilled their religious responsibility through condemning the act which depicts the sinister face of Taliban. No doubt, Taliban never practice what they preach and openly violate Islamic laws. Their inhuman, immoral and irreligious acts unmask their true face. As a result; a month after; one of their highly immoral acts; sexual abuse of the students during the training; was disclosed by one of the Taliban-linked teenage who was arrested during his mission of terror in Heart province. This act is extremely abominable in Islam which has no punishment other than death. Hence, as Taliban stigmatize Muslims by their illegal acts under Islam and commit crime with impunity, it is believed that launching a public Jihad (Holy war) against them seems a need of time and religious responsibility for Islamic countries.
As long as Taliban is under wing of the Afghan government, Afghanistan’s ambitions regarding security is no more than building castles in the air. To our chagrin, the status quo was not only maintained by Afghan officials but also exacerbated to a large extent. I have mentioned many times and emphasize again that Taliban has extended their attacks and will not stop their terrorist acts. Of course, they will never forgo their destructive role in war-torn Afghanistan. . It amazes me however that people fall victim of the insurgents’ terrorist acts and are harmed in one way or another, the government turns deaf and blind to the incidents. Hence, this ominous silence of our officials remains in deep mystery. It is a great cause for concern.
The likely scenario is that after the withdrawal of foreign forces in 2014, Afghanistan will fall into insecurity and violence the same as Iraq. The current situation is a clear indicator for the future. In some of the villages, Taliban has the upper hand rather than the government. A friend of mine who has come from Jaghori District, Ghazni province, says that he and his co-travelers were stopped and searched by Taliban militants and the roads are insecure. Fear and worry prevail among vehicle drivers and as well as in passengers. Hence, people are in great discomfort mentally and physically.