It's often said leaders are born and not made. With respect to Dr. Abdullah it appears he was neither born a leader nor made any attempt to be ‘made’ one. But in a country like Afghanistan, when you claim to be a leader, people want to know your political identity, your past, your family and your ideology before they take you seriously. Afghans are very picky when it comes to choosing accepting one as a leader.
Historian Dr. Hassan Kakar in his book titled Afghanistan, published by University of California press in 1995 writes “All peoples want to know the identity of their rulers, and that desire is particularly strong among the genealogy-conscious Afghans”. So an individual must be highly influential, have deep roots and come from known families to be taken seriously by Afghans.
Get to know Abdullah
Who is Dr. Abdullah? Actually the answer is not that easy although his supporters would make him appear as a political genius and a national hero. It's widely known he's a mix of Tajik-Pashtun, but he's broadly seen as a resident of Panjshir given his mother was from Panjshir and his close association with Masood, also from Panjshir. Note well, my discussion here has nothing to do with ethnicity, but I'm simply stating facts. I'm fiercely opposed to mixing ethnicity and politics in Afghanistan because that's a recipe for disasters.
Dr. Abdullah was broadly unknown and an obscure figure in Afghan politics until 9/11, save for him acting as a spokesman for Northern Alliance (NA) and accompanying Ahamd Shah Masood on a few trips as an interpreter. I don't recall his name mentioned in the media until late 1998 when US attacked Khost, Afghanistan targeting training camps.
I'm fiercely opposed to mixing ethnicity and politics in Afghanistan because that's a recipe for disaster.
Today Masood is a contraversial figure among Afghans. Some regard him as a hero while others see him one of the instigators of the Afghan Civil War of 1992-1996 resulting in killing of thousands and providing the ground for rise of Taliban and Al-Qaeda. In fact, the mere fact that Abdullah was an assistant to Masood has made him an undesirable figure in the eyes of those who see Masood as a harmful figure. I know my statement of Masood is inviting curse of his supporters and praise from his opponents and that conflicting reaction is evidence of the 'Massood controversy'.
 |
| Abdullah (third from left) with Masood (first from left). Photo Credit BBC |
Abdullah not an anti-Soviet figure
Despite what most believe, Dr. Abdullah is NOT an anti-Soviet or anti-Communist figure. Facts back up this claim. He remained in Soviet-controlled Kabul for over 7 years after Soviet invasion, leaving Afghanistan in 1986 when the Soviet-Afghan war was coming to an end and after getting his M.D. from a Soviet-backed medical institute in Kabul. He then worked in a hospital in Kabul for some time. This is in contrast to many famous anti-Soviet figures who left Afghanistan in 1979 to joint Mujaheddin. He apparently became a doctor in Panjshir valley helping Mujahideen around 1987, but up to this point he had no political involvement or experience.
Dr. Abdullah was also an unknown figure during Mujahideen rule, 1992-1996 and only surfaced in media when Norther Alliance was formed as he acted as an interpreter and spokesman for the Alliance. For example, he had no official position in government except acting as a spokesperson.
9/11 Attacks and Abdullah's rise to power
After 9/11 and because the West allowed the Northern Alliance to gain power, he became foreign minister in 2002, but made no real progress in the ministry finally leaving in 2005. Fast forwarding history to 2009, with Ahamad Shah Masood dead, Burhaniddin Rabbani made irrelevant and General Fahim moving closer to Hamid Karzai, Dr. Abdullah saw a vacuum in Jamiat Islami and tried to fill it. He ran in 2009 election, but lost it and remained irrelevant until 2014 election.
Now with Ahamad Shah Masood, Rabbani, and General Fahim all dead, Dr. Abdullah sees himself as the 'last bullet' in Jamiat Islami and Shurah-i-Nazar political gun and the primary "inheritor" of Jamiat to make a showdown for power. To be fair and realistic, today Abdullah enjoys massive support among people who were loyal to Ahmad Shah Masood and Burhanuddin Rabbani and basically his support stops there. He also has support among some Hazaras, especially those loyal to his ally, Mohammad Mohaqiq and a bit of support among Gul Agha Shirzai, a Pashtun from Kandahar.
So I want to pose the question:
Is Dr. Abdullah with no education or experience in governance, history or international relation is on political stage because of competency or just by pure chance, luck and accident?
No comments:
Post a Comment