NEW DELHI: Zahir Shah may be the man of the hour
for Afghanistan which stands precariously perched on a
precipice — between its current state of internal anarchy
and an impending external invasion by a multinational force.
He is fast emerging as the rallying point of the US-led and
UN-blessed campaign to oust the Taliban, collaborators and
hosts of Osama bin Laden, the man suspected to be behind last
week’s terror attacks in America. How fast he would move out
of his villa in suburban Rome to play the role expected of him
would depend upon the speed and the nature of success of the
campaign.
The man who ruled Afghanistan for 40 years before being
deposed and exiled 28 years ago, on Saturday called for
“liberation of our homeland and our people” and removing
“foreign-imposed terrorists.”
He has also called for an emergency meeting of Loya Jirga ,
the traditional Afghan grand assembly, “to elect an interim
head of state and a government in transition.”
A rare Afghan monarch, for ever a reluctant ruler who had
ushered in a
constitutional
monarchy, general elections and partial press freedom during
the last decade (1963-73) of his rule, he seems ready to play
a role, but briefly. Given the Afghan scene, it is unlikely
that it would be a smooth affair. A devastated Kabul can
hardly be the place where he could hope to retire in peace.
In bringing Zahir Shah to the centre-stage yet again — he
has figured in numerous peace initiatives each time the winter
forces a lull in fighting among the warring factions — the
UN may be seeking penance for abruptly quitting a peace
process when Najibullah was prepared to hand over power to
him.
The reluctance of the warring Mujahideen faction to share
power, that could not hold them together anyway, and the
eventual emergence of the Taliban put an end to the UN efforts
to restore monarchy. This, combined with the US return to the
Afghan scene that it had quit earlier, with Robin Raphel,
under secretary of state in the first Clinton Administration,
pitching in on behalf of the American gas and oil
multinationals keen to promote the Taliban in their
peace-at-any-cost quest.
Thus, the move to bring the reluctant 86-year old on the scene
appears to be a
convenient
double-take by the US, which contributed to the derailing of
the 1992 peace process under the influence of Pakistan’s
military establishment. The first Benazir Bhutto government
was ready to restore monarchy, but this was thwarted by her
army chief, Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg and the ISI chief, Hamid Gul.
Pakistan “welcomed” Zahir Shah, but denied him visa.
Pakistan was never comfortable with Zahir Shah’s Afghanistan
which was the only country to vote against Pakistan becoming a
UN member in 1948. The root cause is the 1893 Durand Line that
forms the Pak-Afghan border but stands erased when it comes to
social, cultural and economic ties of a people who politically
belong to “Pakhtunistan.” This concept has bedevilled the
neighbourly relations, prompting Pakistan to always strive for
“friendly” governments in Kabul.
Pak-propped Taliban successes ended a role for monarchy. Zahir
Shah was termed “a criminal”. But conscious of the
political vacuum it caused, Taliban chief Mullah Omar was
anointed Amirul Momineen — the Leader of the Faith — on
April 4, 1996.
Through all this, the legitimacy of the monarchy have never
been in doubt. Indeed, all upheavals have been blamed on the
end of the institution that survived despite constant
blood-letting. Zahir succeeded father Nadir Shah who was
assassinated at a prize-giving function in 1933. Zahir Shah is
a Mohammadzai pushtun of the Durrani clan which has provided
most rulers to Afghanistan. Cultured and articulate, the
Mohammedzais trace their genealogy to Qais Abdul Rashid, a
companion of the Prophet.
The West sees Zahir Shah as the only individual who can unite
a people afflicted by a prolonged fratricidal conflict. Rural
Afghanistan and millions of refugees outside pine for the
relatively peaceful monarchical order. Much of the social and
political infrastructure on which the monarchy sustained
itself, including various feudal layers of Khans and Maliks,
however, have disappeared. This, perhaps, explains Zahir’s
reluctance to return home and play a permanent role.
(Times of India)
