EDITORIAL : THE OUTLOOK, AFGANISTAN

                

 

The Environment Week

There is pressing need to work for cleaner and greener environment. Gifting a health friendly environment to the coming generations of Afghanistan is what we need to work for today

In Kabul, one of the most polluted capitals of the world, this week has been dedicated to environment. The week is aimed at creating public awareness, as the environmental pollution has reached its climax. The severity of pollution can be judged by the dusty air and garbage scattered everywhere in the capital of Afghanistan. Three decades of conflicts, around five million people, huge number of vehicles, lack of greenery, poor sewerage system and government's unwillingness have turned Kabul into a dreadful place for humans to live. Studies show the water that the people drink in Kabul is not safe even for animals.
It is not merely the government that is carelessly functioning to address environmental problems but also the people. Outreach programs are deemed to have positive impacts on the mindset of people and therefore, are appreciated.
It is not so that steps have not been taken but those have been so minor as compared to the immensity problems our environment is facing. National Environment Agency was established in 2005, the first Environment Law was endorsed in 2007 and since the end of 2010, in addition to Fridays, Thursdays are also off in Kabul to add in bettering the environment.
But problems have been becoming bigger with the passage of each year due to lack of proper planning. The funds that have been available to the government of Afghanistan have become the victims of corrupt and dishonest people. For instance, Mr. Sahibi, the ex-mayor of Kabul was involved in massive embezzlement and therefore, the Supreme Court sentenced him to a four-year imprisonment. But he was backed by President Karzai and lives as free man until today.

The conditions in other cities of Afghanistan - Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kunduz, Jalalabad and many others resemble to that of Kabul. There too, the environment is increasingly becoming polluted. If no major measure is in place in capital, how could one think condition that will improve in provinces?
There is pressing need to work for cleaner and greener environment. Gifting a health friendly environment to the coming generations of Afghanistan is what we need to work for today.

Fighting Corruption from a New Perspective

Rampant corruption has always been a hot issue in the country. It is considered to be a huge obstacle in the way of progress in the country, has disappointed the general Afghan public and the international community alike and continues to erode the very pillars of Afghan state. As one of the first rules of governing people, it is important to manage perceptions of the general public. The rage of corruption both large-scale and small, petty bribe-taking has adversely affected the meager lives of poor and destitute masses.
People's perception of the government has plummeted to historic lows. The efforts of the government of Afghanistan and its international supporters to curb the menace have largely been to throw money at the problem, erecting one anti-corruption agency after another without giving due attention to those fundamental factors that drive the vicious cycle of corruption in the first place.
It is time to view the problem of corruption in the country from a new perspective and in light of new findings devise effective strategies. In Afghanistan much like other similar countries in Asia, fighting corruption has always meant going after the corrupt bureaucrat i.e. the director of a government office, the judge of a low level court, the administrator of a public utility department, etc.
The broader picture that is the politician-bureaucrat nexus is conveniently placed outside the realm of investigation and prosecution. In other words, it is critical to clean up the political leadership that sits at the top of the bureaucratic and administrative structure of the government whether in the center or provinces. Once the politicos stay away from corrupt wheeling and dealing, bureaucrats working under their control will not find much space for indulging in corrupt practices.
Therefore, as the saying goes, the fish rots from the head. At the same time, regulatory, vigilance, oversight and law enforcement mechanisms need to be radically strengthened. In present Afghanistan, targeting and prosecuting the influential corrupt among the political class might be politically very difficult; entrenched powers and powerful vested interests might not be willing to cede their liberty in practicing corruption.
But until and unless difficult decisions are made and implemented and the status-quo shattered, curbing corruption will remain a pipedream and a figment of imagination. The other factor is reforming, revamping and modernizing the archaic and extremely old structures of government which is a legacy of the era of monarchy and before.
Bringing greater democracy and diversified representation to political appointments in provinces done by Kabul as well as emphasizing personal competence rather than political loyalties all will go a long way in reducing corruption. The state of affairs on the front of fighting corruption is disheartening. Before time runs out, we have to pull back the country from the verge of this self-created abyss.

The US Military Withdrawal from Iraq

Sometimes it gets really difficult to find out how terrorist philosophy works out. And how they are coming out with decision to carry out suicidal attack on their countrymen with the same race, language and religion, the factors which are recognized as three uniting forces? On Saturday, June 03, 2011, a suicide bomber attacked a mosque filled with Iraqi politicians and policemen and another blew himself inside a hospital where wounded were taken and family members gathered, which both took 21 lives in the very hometown of former President Saddam Hussein, Tikrit.
However, nobody claimed the responsibility, but there were widespread assumption Sunni fundamentalists who are opposing any cooperation with a so-called Shiite dominated government might have organized and carried out the attacks.
Indubitably, the current slogan of terror networks is Jihad against infidels and those colluding with them, but the very fundamentals of their philosophy are violated by themselves.
If they justify assassination of officials for colluding with infidel, and civilians for cooperating with governments, but there is nothing to justify the suicidal attacks. According to jurisprudence of any sects of Islam, suicide is an anti-Islamic act and the committer would be punished in resurrection day by Allah, while suicide bombings have become the core strategy of terrorists and Jihadists.
Once this question was put to Mr. Same-ul-Haq Haqqani, who owns a Madressa Dar-ul-uloom Haqqani in Pakistan and once was the teacher of Taliban leader, Mullah Omer, that "Is suicidal attack Islamic"? With a tricky smile on his lips, he answered that he was talking from position of a politicians, not a clergy.
Oops! When they are announcing Jihad and asking people to join them and fight against infidels, everything is Islamic, and Jihad becomes an Islamic principle to be followed like the rest of rituals. And there is nothing of politics and politicians and they do not care about politics. When the religion restricts their inhuman activities, they become politicians and talk from position of a politician. How ridiculous!
Iraqi officials should understand and notice about the danger that might be followed by US military withdrawal. Such small domestic terror networks, however strong, are unable to deal severe blow to security situation and political stability. What civilians and officials should fear the most is relaxation of tight measures over parties and organizations which presently are unwillingly cooperating with the government and with, after withdrawal, will find opportunity to dominate key decisions regarding democratic process. Such perversion for democratic process is dangerous and will inflame bloody sectarian violence, which occurred after 2005 parliamentary election.