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Ruhollah Nikpai's Afghanistan

Ruhollah Nikpai's bronze is worth its weight in gold for Afghan national unity and, surely a glittering public relations tool for Afghanistan's dress savvy President Hamid Karzai. He is comfortably placed in Kabul, and his police now have all the modern perks to keep up the veneer of a sleek capital.

Syed Maqsud Jamil
AT last, Afghanistan has found someone to celebrate about. He is Ruhollah Nikpai, who won the bronze medal for Afghanistan in the 58-kg Taekwondo competition at the Beijing Olympic Games. He is from the western city of Heart and, ironically, the same day allied force's bombing killed 70 innocent civilians, mostly women and children, at the same place. This sort of wayward bombing is one of the many that take toll of human lives in the hunt for Talibans. These days, the war in Afghanistan is seeing more of resurgent Talibans and the loss of American soldiers is more than the death toll in Iraq. Soon the allied forces will be into their eighth year in Afghanistan
Ruhollah Nikpai's bronze is worth its weight in gold for Afghan
national unity and, surely a glittering public relations tool for Afghanistan's dress savvy President Hamid Karzai. He is comfortably placed in Kabul, and his police now have all the modem perks to keep up the veneer of a sleek capital. But beyond it, Mullah Omar's turbaned tenor is back in the reckoning of the common people of Afghanistan. It is a ground reality since the allied forces cannot even guarantee safe passage through a 25-mile stretch of highway outside its base.
The allied forces exhort the common men to rise up against the Taliban for the many good things they are doing for their country. They return to base, and the Talibans are back in business. In Afghanistan, there is no countrywide authority, there are only ties of convenience with officials, tribal warlords, opium traders and farm-
ers. Ruhollah Nikpai has to belong to one of the 25 odd tribal and ethnic groups, so does Hamid Karzai. Nikpai is either Turkoman or Nouristani (or remotely a Hazara) as all westerners are. Karazai is a Pushtun or Pathan, the ruling majority constituting 40 percent of the total population of approximately 20 million people.
The other partners of the ailing coalition are Tajiks, who constitute 25 percent of the population, led by the brother of slain leader "Lion of Panjshcr" Ahmad Shah Masud. Ute northerner Uzbeks constitute ten percent of the population. Among the rest are the Hazaras, Nouristanis. Baluch and others. They have their own languages, customs and yes strong pride. In this disparate population mix of dour frontiersmen there is hardly any Afghan. If there are any they are in Kabul.
Now what has brought the
Talibans back after being driven out by the allied forces in 2001? The Talibans are principally a Kandahar based Pushtun force. And the Pushtuns live in the opium growing heartland of Afghanistan. Opium cultivation is back in favour in the conniving ground realities of Afghan War. It is now the largest cash crop of Afghanistan, genera ting$4 billion.
93 percent of the world's opium is grown in Afghanistan. The Talibans give the opium growers and traders security and in return they get $4 million. As for the allied forces, they have learnt to live with the opium growers and even use them for information. The money and the cover provided by the opium growers are good enough to add to the pugnacity of the Talibans. They are now bold enough to raid Kandahar jail and free their men.
The other factor is the proverbial Afghan mistrust of foreigners. Over the years, the Afghans have successfully used one group of foreigners against the other, but never have they placed their fate with them. It is more a matter of time and opportunity. The allied
forces have a commanding presence in Afghanistan, numbering around 58,000 from 43 countries with their high-tech weaponries. Yet the Taliban terror is rising. Reports say western powers are also giving the Afghan government $3.5 billion as aid. Ironically $1.5 billion of it is going after the upkeep of project personnel. The greedy officials are also to be kept in mind. Yet the war is grounded in stalemate.
Banack Obama is calling for relocating American focus to Afghanistan. If history is any guide, Ruhollah Nikpai's countrymen have a notorious record of being inconstant and volatile. Many foreign forces have been traumatised by their legendary firry. Even the Russians were no less strong and the Afghan government seemed to be steadfast allies, but pestilence stalked them on their return home.
There is little scope for brashness and Iraq type bravado. Who can forget what happened to the 1839-41 British adventure of bringing Afghanistan into its sphere of influence. Alexander "Bokhara"
Burnes' vaunted 12,000 strong British redcoats were ingloriously routed to the last man. For the allied forces it is always walking a thin line. Wayward bombing and loss of innocent civilian lives will only harden the Afghan mind and make the war grind on for years.
Besides, compact among the ethnic groups will greatly decide the future of Afghanistan. The rise of Tabban was a backlash against the vandalism perpetrated by the unruly northern alliance during 1992-1994. Any tilt in favour of any tribal group can be catastrophic.
Ruhollah Nikpai's Afghanistan is a colossal human task. More than 1.5 million Afghan lives have been lost in the bloodletting. Over 3 million people were displaced as refugees. Afghanistan is abysmally ranked in matters of nutrition, infant mortality life expectancy and literacy. There are 15 million landmines strewn across the country. For that. Afghanistan will need more of good things happening its way likeRuhollah Nikpai's bronze medal. Syed Maqsud Jamil to a freelance contnbutor to The Daily Star.