Unconstitutional takeover by Taliban condemned by global citizens

Ansar Ahmed Ullah
Contributing Editor,Shottobani

London: A resolution signed by 107 rights activists from 36 countries at an international conference called for global civic resistance against the Taliban and all militant groups. They demanded that the UN General Assembly urgently table and endorse a resolution to unequivocally condemn the “unconstitutional, illegal takeover of state power by the extremist militant Taliban in Afghanistan”.

At the online conference titled “Taliban takeover in Afghanistan: Call for Global Resistance against Terrorism” organised by the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee on 5 September, they pressed that no UN member state should recognise any Taliban self-proclaimed “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”.

Human rights defender Shahriar Kabir chaired the conference attended by over 300 participants. The resolution said that despite their new “moderate posture”, the Taliban have not forsaken their extremist theocratic ideology and their disrespect for democratic values, equal rights of women and minorities, the rule of law, and basic human rights guaranteed by the UN and international law. The UN and all its member states must support a broad-based, all-inclusive negotiated peace, followed by a legally, democratically elected political dispensation as the true and legitimate representation of the Afghan people.

The resolution said Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries should open their borders for refugees and asylum seekers fleeing Afghanistan, while the developed countries, particularly the USA, UK, NATO alliance involved militarily in the occupation of Afghanistan in the last 20 years, must be mandated by the UNGA to provide a direct response to the current humanitarian and economic crisis unfolding in Afghanistan.

Presenting the resolution, Afghan-Australian human rights defender attorney Kobra Moradi said, “We must do everything to ensure that an inclusive political system is negotiated where the rights and safety of everyone regardless of their gender, age, ethnicity, and religion is guaranteed.”

Pakistani human rights defender Sheema Kermani said, “We the women of Pakistan stand with the women — and all vulnerable groups of Afghanistan against militarism, fundamentalism, and fascism. None of us are free until the women of Afghanistan are free.”

British security and political analyst Chris Blackburn said, ‘India is having to adjust to a new security dynamic with the US and NATO being pulled out of Afghanistan. Trying to understand Pakistan and the Taliban’s next plays are being hotly debated in India. Many are saying Pakistan will be happy to consolidate. While the pessimists are looking at the parallels between the Soviet withdrawal, a time when Pakistan became the custodians of modern jihad. Pakistan threw their radical Islamist mercenaries everywhere. Pakistan has shown it doesn’t follow western logic. It is always trying to attack rather than defend. It’s strategy of “death by a thousand cuts” or strategic depth in Afghanistan shows how reckless they can be. Any suggestion that Pakistan and the Taliban will be muted and constrained this time round is simply wishful thinking.’