The end of an era

Had Taliban leader Mulla Muhammad Omar taken a wise political decision on al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden and Bamyan and listened to Pakistan, things would have been far more different both in Afghanistan as well as in Pakistan after 9/11.
Death, whether in 2013 or recently, after the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011 has brought end to an era. How different will be Mullah Omar’s successor in the changing world scenario? How history would judge Mullah Omar? As a leader, who gave a tough resistance to the American forces or the one who put Afghans to another war, which could have been avoided?
How the Afghans would remember him? As a man who gave a peaceful Afghanistan under the Taliban rule or the one who further suppressed the society?Everybody has a right to form their own opinion. Omar lived a reclusive life, mostly in the mountains of Afghanistan and at times in Pakistan; his death also remains a secret.
Former ISI chief General Mahmood took a message from the then army chief General Pervez Musharraf weeks after 9/11 that the US could attack Afghanistan if Osama bin Laden, suspected for the attack on the World Trade Center killing 3,000 people, was not handed over to the US.
There were two options: (1) hand Osama over to the US, (2) ask him to leave Afghanistan.Mullah Omar’s response was that the US must provide evidence and he would try him under the Islamic laws. He was also ready for his trial in an Islamic country
Those, who accompanied Gen Mahmood, included Mullah Omar’s teacher Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai and Islamic scholar of Binori Town Maulana Mufti Jamil.General Mahmood’s report disappointed Musharraf and the US attack on Afghanistan became imminent.
There were also some speculations that Mahmood never communicated Musharraf’s message and backed Mullah Omar’s stance. However, Musharraf often denied this allegation. Though their relations got tense, even after retirement both Mahmood and Musharraf never spoke or gave interviews against each other.
The failure of talks resulted in the US-led Nato attack on Afghanistan. The war has not ended even after 14 years and Pakistan has once again paid a heavy price.However, unlike the Jihad-e-Afghanistan against the Soviets, Mullah Omar practically fought a lone war against the US-led Nato forces after the Taliban regime was overthrown.
Despite having a soft corner for the Afghan Taliban, Pakistan did not join the war, but its tribal areas, particularly North Waziristan, became sanctuaries for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who had escaped from Afghanistan.
For Mullah Omar’s supporters, Afghanistan under the Taliban brought poppy cultivation and crime rate to almost zero. For his critics, Afghanistan suffered because of his rigid attitude and some of his policies.
The impact of Afghan war also resulted in the rise of Pakistani Taliban and dozens of Islamic extremist groups, most of which were later declared “outlawed.”Destruction of centuries-old Buddha statues in Bamyan valley despite request from countries like Japan and Nepal not only isolated the Taliban, but also put them under more pressure.
The Soviet withdrawal resulted in one of the worst civil wars in Afghanistan and serious questions have been raised about the future of the Taliban movement after Mullah Omar’s death.Prior to 9/11, the US never put the Taliban in the category of al-Qaeda, Hezbollah or Hamas, but was critical of them on the question of human rights, freedom of expression and women’s education during their government.
Even top US officials, at times, admitted that Mullah Omar’s rule had brought poppy cultivation to a zero and disarmed all except the Talib. His failure to resolve differences with other factions within Afghanistan, including Gul Badin Hikmatyar, made even parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami unhappy.
The late Amir of JI Qazi Hussain Ahmad, who played an important role and tried to bring different factions in Afghanistan under one umbrella, once told me in an interview that a little flexibility in Mullah Omar’s stance could have brought some Afghan factions much closer before and after 9/11.Like many Afghan groups, the Taliban are also the product of “Afghan jihad” against the Soviets. Pakistan, backed by the US, played an important role in building up the “Afghan jihad.”
Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar were among two most prominent leaders of post-jihad Afghanistan. They not only led the “jihad”, but also the ideology.The ideology of “Jihad” strengthen after the withdrawal of Soviets and it was considered as the foundation of a long battle against the second super power i.e. United States.
Peace never returned to Afghanistan and as a result Pakistan too became the battleground and a sanctuary for different groups and over 100,000 foreign “Mujahideen” who came from different Arab and African countries for “Jihad-e-Afghanistan” but were not welcomed by their countries. They finally adopted Pakistan and Afghanistan as their home.
In post-9/11 neither the Muslim countries sent Mujahideen nor the Pakistani establishment sent recruits to fight against the US-led Nato, leaving Mullah Omar and few others to fight the battle. But, that does not mean Pakistan played no role in the war but it was quite different from the war against the Soviets.
Mullah Omar, who carried head money of $10 million, the biggest after Osama Bin Laden, had never been as threatening for the US as Osama and the Taliban were never been listed in any major attacks in the West, as al-Qaeda, but the Americans always considered Afghanistan and Pakistan’s tribal areas the most dangerous places.
The death of Mullah Muhammad Omar, most likely in April 2013, remains as mysterious as his life. The cause of his death, perhaps, would never be known, but peace in Afghanistan may remain a “dream.”
Much now depends on how long the issue of Mullah Omar’s successor would haunt. Will all or majority factions accept Mullah Akhtar Mansoor as the new Amir or some factions, particularly the one led by Mullah Yaqub, Omar’s son, would be more acceptable. Pakistan apparently puts its weight behind Mansoor.
Secondly, how different Mullah Mansoor would be from Mullah Omar. He will be facing a much tougher challenge than Mullah Omar because it will not only be from within the Taliban, but also from Daesh.
The presence of Daesh may be a new beginning of another long civil war in Afghanistan. This time the Afghans would not be fighting “Jihad” against the infidel forces but one extremist group against another.
For millions of Afghans living in Afghanistan and for three million Afghan refugees in Pakistan, normalcy is unlikely to return in the near future unless the successor and legacy of Mullah Omar and Taliban factions form a “United front.”
Mullah Omar’s death after Osama Bin Laden certainly marks the end of an era, but the beginning of a new era.
The writer is the senior columnist and analyst of GEO, The News and Jang.