Hunted and suppressed under the Taliban, the country's weakened but courageous left faces new opportunities, and also new dangers, in the post-Taliban situation. On November 11, before the liberation of Kabul, SHOAIB BHATTI, the editor of the Pakistani left-wing newspaper Weekly Mazdoor Jeddojuhd, spoke to Adel, a central leader of the Afghan Labour Revolutionary Organisation, about the challenges facing the left and about why his organisation has withdrawn support for a government headed by the former king, Zahir Shah. The interview appears here abridged.
Will it now be possible to arrest Osama bin Laden and the main leaders of the Taliban?
Look, it is not difficult to arrest a man, Osama, who now only weighs 55 kilograms. It also will not be too difficult to capture Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif.
But America wants to teach a lesson to the Northern Alliance that without its support, the NA will neither conquer Afghanistan nor maintain its rule. America also wants a strong base in Afghanistan to keep a check on China and Russia.
Differences can also be seen within the Taliban. A moderate group, under the leadership of foreign minister Wakeel Ahmad Mutwakl, exists. He has not been seen publicly for some time.
In the province of Paktia, the local tribal lords despise the Taliban and the al Qaeda network and their main base has been destroyed. In the area of Orozgan, they support Hamid Karzai, who has kicked al Qaeda and the Taliban out of the area.
Because of the bombing and the fear of dying, the people are asking al Qaeda to leave their areas or are migrating altogether. It shows the reservations of the masses and the differences among the Taliban. Because of their loss of mass support, the retreat of the Taliban is a real possibility.
Will the new set-up after a Taliban defeat be a strong one?
Even if the Taliban are not fully defeated, a faction of them under foreign pressure could join the new set-up, while another faction with the support of al-Qaeda could start a guerilla war.
In the future, a broad-based government comprising moderate Taliban and Pashtuns is quite possible. For this, a formula [for a national council] for 240 people, 120 Pashtuns and 120 non-Pashtuns, has already been unearthed.
However, there is no question of there being a stable and long-lasting government. The enforced set-up, with or without Zahir Shah, will look after the interests of America, not the interests of Afghan people.
This proposed set-up is also not acceptable to the countries of the area.
Pakistan has its own interests and wants to defend them. We are of the view that Pakistan's rulers and intelligence agencies will not be able to provide the same monetary or military aid for a Taliban guerilla war as they provided in the past. But Pakistan will still make sure its interests are secure.
In Iran, the supporters of the former Shah [of Iran] consider the return of Zahir Shah to mean a return of the monarchy and, for this reason, the Iranian government considers the new set-up under Zahir Shah to be a threat.
The future government will not be able to solve a single problem of the Afghan masses, nor will it be a representative government. It will generate contradictions inside and out. This will be a dependent government, which will not be strong or able to maintain the peace.
This government will only defend American interests and these interests are profit from the export of oil. The oil pipeline will not pass through Iran because this route is very expensive; the more likely possibility is that this will pass through Pakistan and the profits will go into the pockets of Americans. There will be very little benefit to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Also, if the expectations of the tribes are not fulfilled, they could opt for civil war. Poppy production could also become a point of conflict between America and local tribal leaders.
It is also clear that America does not trust Pakistan. The Pakistan intelligence agencies have not been able to provide the concrete information which could lead to massive successes in a short span of time.
After the fall of the Najibullah government in 1992, America gave Pakistan a free hand. In return Pakistan promoted terrorism. This time America will not give Pakistan a free hand. On this point, there could be tension between Pakistan and America.
What is your party's view of the new set-up?
Our party does not support any imposed set-up in Afghanistan.
Zahir Shah's talk of elections and transitional government is a deception. Because of ignorance and mass murder, the Afghans may consider Zahir Shah an alternative but they will shed this deception very soon.
The grandson of Zahir Shah, Mustafa Zahir, and his grand-daughter, Humera Wali, are already active for the restoration of the monarchy.
It is possible that in the new set-up Zahir Shah will establish an election process so he can be "elected". But this will be a sheer deception. Through these elections it will not be genuine people's representatives, but American stooges, who will be elected. America will not tolerate its opposition coming into power.
Since 1964, our party has opposed Zahir Shah. His and other governments have killed hundreds of our party comrades. We cannot set aside or forget our party martyrs.
We will do our best to expose this fraud and we will strengthen the class movement to establish a genuine government of the Afghan masses.
Several groups are supporting Zahir Shah, considering him the lesser evil. This will be a big mistake. Our party cannot afford that. We are fighting a dual war and we are hopeful that the victory will be of the poor Afghan masses.
From Green Left Weekly, November 28, 2001.
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