Villains and heroes

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar – best known as part of the US war against the Soviets who intervened in Afghanistan in 1979, and later for the havoc he caused in Kabul between 1992 and 1996 as the civil war began – is back in the limelight after a long period in obscurity. Hekmatyar and his Hizb-e-Islami had appeared to fade away into the sunset with the change in the situation in Afghanistan. Initially a hero, he had later been cast as a villain for his brutality and the fact that thousands of Afghans died as a result of orders issued by him. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has now signed a deal with the Hizb-e-Islami, essentially agreeing to work together. Speculation is rife that Hekmatyar may even be free to contest the next Afghan presidential elections. Analysts in Afghanistan say the deal has little real meaning, but Ghani, who has failed to get very far in attempts to talk with the Taliban, hopes that other militant groups will be brought over to the negotiating table.

Afghanistan remains a fractured country, with Ghani – coming to the end of the three-year National Unity Government set up under US mediation – locked in a bitter war of words with his archrival Abdullah Abdullah. Ghani and Abdullah have not succeeded in achieving the main purposes of the NUG, which were to move towards electoral reforms, conduct a new parliamentary election and convene a Loya Jirga which would initiate constitutional reforms. Ghani is also surrounded by other enemies which also include former president Hamid Karzai. The future of Afghanistan is then no more certain after the new deal than it was before. There is some question over how much influence Hekmatyar still holds; other warlords have taken charge in some areas and there have been protests in Kabul over the return of Hekmatyar, a man called the ‘butcher of Kabul’ by some. There are also other elements to consider here. If Afghanistan wants peace deals with the militant groups based in the country, how can it ask Pakistan to take action against any Afghan Taliban presence in Pakistan with a straight face? The peace deal with Hekmatyar has come under criticism from both opposition politicians and rights activists within Afghanistan. Hekmatyar remains one of the most reviled men in Afghanistan and the Hizb-e-Islami is seen as a group which served as a role model for the many other extremist forces that later sprang up in Pakistan and Afghanistan and remained active in various spheres. The US has welcomed the deal with Hekmatyar. But does this not smell of hypocrisy and double standards? The only saving grace for the US may be that Hekmatyar is understood to have lost his strength in the last 15 years after spending most of the time in self-exile in Iran. Allowing Hekmatyar back into the Afghan mainstream seems like another one of those ‘inevitable’ compromises Afghanistan may be forced to make. This will be touted as progress even if the situation in the country is unlikely to improve. The results of this latest development in a troubled country will emerge over the coming months.