By protesting that the national unity government has marginalised them, are the erstwhile mujahedin leaders exposing their true colours?
At the 26th anniversary celebrations of the withdrawal of Soviet forces from the country, jihadist leaders warned of serious repercussions if the government does not give them their due privileges.
Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah was quick to reject the charge that erstwhile warlords like Ismail Khan, Karzai’s powerful water and energy minister, were deliberately kept out of the government. He said it was the “compulsions” of a coalition government.
Mujahedin leaders from Ismail Khan to Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayaf are piqued. The mujahedin are the “heirs” of the war against the Soviet Union, declared Sayaf, who had led the mujahedin faction of Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan. He had unsuccessfully sought to run in the 2014 presidential poll. Sayaf is blamed for the death of thousands in the civil war that followed the Soviet pullout.
The mujahedin are embedded in the country’s security, Sayaf reminded his audience of mainly war veterans and supporters. “The mujahedin left their education and work and life and came to the war front to defend your honor and chastity. But now the person that escaped is being counted as committed but the person that lost everything is counted as not-committed,” he thundered. Millions of people fled the country in the wake of the Soviet invasion including Chief Executive Abdullah who left for Pakistan in 1982. Through the eighties he coordinated treatment and healthcare for mujahedin fighters, and became associated with Ahmed Shah Masood, whose Northern Alliance had stood up to the Taleban regime.
Threat or plea
Sayaf announced that the mujahedin factions were united, and the public would see it for themselves. But he did not elaborate whether this was a declaration of armed mobilisation or a plea for giving erstwhile mujahedin prominent positions in the government.
The new Minister for Foreign Affairs Salahuddin Rabbani also spoke at the public felicitation on Feb 15. He is the leader of the Jamiat-e Islami party. “The leadership of the national unity government knows that if jihadists are ignored the hand of the enemy for sabotaging security would be strengthened,” he said. “It is not easy to fill the place of jihadists easily.” In his opinion, former warlords had the capacity to provide the army of unemployed in the country with jobs.
Among the first to speak on the occasion was ex-water and energy minister Ismail Khan, a powerful former militia commander and former governor of Herat. Defence minister Bismillah Mohammadi was also among the speakers.
In early November 2012, Khan had told his supporters at a gathering in Herat that they needed to rearm to defend the country from “foreign conspirators”. The move had fuelled fears that regional and factional leaders could rearm, undermining support for the government. This week’s public attack on the national unity government is evidence if any is needed that a threat of remobilisation of former mujahedin has not vanished. Most of those who raised their fingers at the government had held high positions in the previous Karzai administration.
Sharp condemnation
The former mujahedin responded to security warnings about the new threat from allies of the Islamic State (ISIS) forces. The Afghan National Security Council has expressed concern about the alleged growing influence of ISIS. While its fighters have not launched a major attack on the government, there is a fear that this may be the lull before the storm.
Sayaf declared the former mujahedin would “counter” the ISIS. “We would counter anyone who abuses Islam and gives Islam a bad name,” he said. “We see them as enemies of Islam and humanity. We have resisted all aggressors, we would stand up against ISIS too,” he added.
Military expert, retired General Atiqullah Amarkhel sees it as the responsibility of the Afghan security forces to counter threats to the government – not that of the former mujahedin. “There is a government in Afghanistan. There are armed forces that are responsible to ensure the security of the country. I think there is no need for other groups,” he told Killid.
The challenge to the authority of the government was taken head on by Chief Executive Abdullah. At the first meeting of the council of ministers, he took on those who “abuse the compulsions of Afghan people and act illegally”. Referring to the “sacrifices of the Afghan people during jihad”, he said, “jihadists were ignoring the people and not respecting the national unity government”. He did not name anyone. He took pains to explain that he has never “ignored” the mujahedin or sought to undermine the values of jihad. Not including the erstwhile warlords in the cabinet was not to deny their role in politics, he said. “There are charges that the mujahedin have been ignored in current politics. The jihad is one of the most important events for Afghans. No one can ignore it,” he said.
Random interviews reveal most people think the mujahedin are not sidelined. Most ministers and governors have a mujahedin past, says Dr Amin in Jalalabad. Dr Abdul Mateen, a Kabul resident, adds, “I think mujahedin are present in all sectors.” Every Afghan family did jihad against the Soviets, says Herat MP, Naheed Farid.
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