This piece appeared after the murder of journalist Danish Siddiqui, by the Taliban. FPJ 19th July 2021

Last week, Indian journalism lost one its most honest practitioners. Danish Siddiqui’s whose photographs captured the extent of trauma caused by the second wave of COVID in India, was killed by the Taliban, in Afghanistan. Reviled by a few whose incompetency and heartlessness he revealed and admired by the rest who saw the unvarnished truth revealed by his images; Danish Siddiqui died in action. Documenting the truth about war, from a war zone.

The killing of Danish Siddiqui by the Taliban has its roots in events from another era.  In the late 1970’s Afghanistan’s leftist parties were in power and unleashing a massive programme of land reform and modernisation. They were opposed by a large part of the population -those who owned the land, and those who were religious. The various groups, fighting against the ‘infidel government’ were collectively called the Mujahedeen – those who fought for Jihad. Like most disorganised civil conflicts against an organised government, they too were doomed for failure. But, then in 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.

The Invasion had in it seeds of ruination that would not just see the Soviet Union disintegrate within a decade, but the creation of a fundamentalist, medieval, Islamist organisation, that would upend geopolitics. The Taliban celebrated as freedom fighters by the Americans were funded, to take on the might of the Red Army.  They and offshoots like the Al Qaeda, unleashed war on the Soviets, and medievalism on the people of Afghanistan and the border regions of Pakistan. People had no rights. And those who violated the dictats of the Taliban and associated splinter groups met a painful end. Afghanistan saw its brightest and best escape to countries that would offer them refuge.

Pakistan capitalised on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It positioned itself as the bulwark between Islamist terror and civilisational values. And, the Americans, in their utter naivety, fell for this narrative. Monies poured into Pakistan to help them lead the war against terror. It is estimated that over a 100,000 Afghans were trained by the Pakistani ISI, including Mohammed Omar, the leader of the Taliban.  And Pakistan’s ISI that was one of the nodal agencies in this battle, used, usurped, and siphoned off funds to spread their global reach, and create mischief.

When the Soviets withdrew their troops in 1989, after installing an interim government, it seemed that there may be a chance at normalcy. But that came crumbling down with the Mujahideen pushing back. Competing warlords fought for the control of Afghanistan. Amidst all this chaos and civil war, arose the Taliban – and for much of the 1990’s it controlled most of Afghanistan. Imposing its version of Islam with an iron hand on the people of the country.

Pakistan’s role once again became important as a conduit between the western world in general, and the USA, and the brutal Islamist state. With 9/11 and the ‘war on terror’, the USA invaded Afghanistan and the Taliban was driven out. But the role of Pakistan in the affairs of Afghanistan, or its role in nurturing the Taliban did not diminish. America kept funding this.

Now, 20 years after invading Afghanistan, the Americans have called it quits. President Trump began negotiations with the Taliban, and the Doha accord laid out the terms of international troop withdrawal and talks amongst the various groups in Afghanistan. The Taliban also promised it would not allow other terrorist organisations to operate on Afghan soil. The war was over for America, and they are about to leave, devastating yet another people with their obsession with reimagining the world in their own image.

And now the Taliban is coming back, with full brute force. It has already ordered girls over 15 and single women under 45 to be forcibly married off to its ‘warriors’, in the regions controlled by it. It has put an end to music, and films, and culture Afghans know it. And, along with the Taliban, multiple militias and their warlordsare back.   

In this mess, the pressure on India to get involved in huge. While the Indian Government and military has been steadfast in its refusal of military involvement, the expectation is India will do more.  As the USA plans complete withdrawal of its troops by August this year, and as the Taliban advances, there are murmurs of Indian troops in Afghanistan, helping maintain the peace. There are opinion pieces galore from those who know – on why India must take its rightful place in the world, by getting its hands dirty in Afghanistan. And, while theoretically it may sound great, in practise, it will be a recipe for disaster. We have nothing to gain, and much to lose.

 At best, India can play an honest broker – working closely with the Organisation of Islamic States (OIC) to send in contingents to keep the peace. Each of these nations of the OIC have much to lose if the radical form of Political Islam espoused by the Taliban spreads to their nations. It is in their interest to see Afghanistan transition to peace, and the modernity that the rest of the Islamic world takes for granted. India can help, as it always had, with socio-economic development. But we must resist the temptation to intervene. Throughout history Afghanistan has remained the graveyard for empires, and India would be foolish to not heed the lessons from history.