SITUATING WORKABLE RESPONSE

Conflict-management is the only solution for a country like

Afghanistan where nation-building is a major challenge. Warlords cannot

be asked or forced to abdicate power, instead they can be coaxed into

participating by providing some incentives and maintaining power. There

is a need to co-opt regional centres as well as warlords into the political

structure. Ethnic plurality, the root cause of endemic conflict in the

country, can be tackled by a federal structure that strikes a harmonious

balance between requirements of a strong centre and demands of the

provincial autonomy. A federal framework was avoided initially to avoid

duplication of functions and to discourage divisive tendencies which

needed to be avoided in the first place. But rights of ethnic groups are

more easily affirmed through federal arrangements. Different ethnic and

political groups share power at the federal level with provincial

representation. It is to be understood that the Taleban do enjoy a

significant support base particularly in the south and south-eastern

provinces and there is a possibility of disruption of government functions

by them. Whether a line of negotiation must be initiated with the

Taleban, and the moderate faction within the Taleban used as the link is a

highly debatable issue. A discussion on this is called for because the

Taleban mostly represents the Pashtuns, who are a significant section of

the ethnic mosaic of Afghanistan.

The complex tasks of peace-building involve multiple functions.

Diverse operations can be characterized in terms of a balance not only

between military and civilian components but also among sectors.

There are different levels at which peace-building in Afghanistan has to be

conducted and there has to be long-term as well as short-term goals. It is

quite clear that peace-building in Afghanistan cannot be achieved in a

short time and seven years is too short a time to expect beneficial results.

What can be sought for is a phased multi-task and multi-track peace-

building policy for Afghanistan which operates at different levels which

starts at the grassroots and continues up to the international level.

To be continued....