Monish Gulati
Kicking-off the first phase of the US pull-out from Afghanistan, two
convoys of 25 containers each crossed the Torkham and Chaman border
check-posts in Pakistan on 10 Feb 2013. The containers, “part of the US
redeployment of equipment from Afghanistan”, were on way to Karachi to
be shipped back to the US. The move oddly signifies the start to what
president Obama termed in his SOTUS to the American nation on 12
February 2013, the “end of our war in Afghanistan”. At the same time in
sharp contrast yet within the same process, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, the
leader of Pakistan’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) faction with
tacit approval of the Pakistan federal government, met with the Afghan
Taliban representatives in Doha, Qatar. A move that sees Pakistan
‘upgrade’ itself into the lead role in the ‘Afghan-owned’ peace process
after the London trilateral summit meeting held on 3-4 February 2013.
Mawlana Fazlur Rahman, the leader (amir) of the JUI-F left for Qatar on 09 February to hold talks with Taliban. 1
According to a report, it was on the invitation of the Taliban. The
Maulana was accompanied by a member of the Pakistan National Assembly
from the tribal areas, Haji Munir Khan Orakzai. They met a group of
Taliban representatives led by Tayyab Agha and assisted by Shahabuddin
Delawar on 10 February 2013 at a farmhouse in the suburbs of Doha in a
first such direct meeting between representatives from Pakistan and the
Afghan Taliban. 2 Tayeb Agha is a close aide and former
secretary to Mullah Omar, and Shahabuddin Delawar was the Taliban envoy
to Riyadh during the Taliban rule in Afghanistan.
Though Mawlana Fazlur Rahman is currently in the political opposition,
the influential politician is believed to have been holding talks with
the Taliban on behalf of Pakistan. There is no official confirmation
from either Pakistan or Afghanistan about the nature and the exact
purpose of the talks in Doha. However, as reported by the Pakistani
media the JUI-F leader went to Doha as part of the Pakistani efforts to
persuade the Taliban to come to the negotiating table. 3 In
an interview on 09 February 2013, the central leader of JUI-F, Hafiz
Hussain Ahmed stated that JUI-F chief had been invited to participate in
the reconciliatory process between the US and Taliban. 4 He
added that negotiations were also aimed at exploring ways of how
Pakistan could become part of the Qatar initiative (Doha process). 5
Afghan Position
Commenting on the trip of Maulana Fazal-Ur-Rahman to Qatar, the
Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul said that no talks had started
with the Taliban officials in Qatar as yet and no office had been opened
for the Taliban in Qatar as yet. 6 There were also reports
that the Mawlana’s trip to Qatar has neither been welcomed by the High
Peace Council (HPC) nor by the Afghan Government. 7 However,
according to some reports in the Afghan media the HPC welcomed the
recent of visit of Pakistan’s JUI-F leader, but said the Council had no
prior information about the trip. The HPC added that despite being
unaware of the nature of negotiations in Qatar the talks will have a
positive impact on the peace process. 8
Pakistani Position
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik in his remarks on 10
February 2013 distanced the government from the JUI-F chief’s
participation in the Afghan peace talks in Doha. Malik said the JUI-F
chief was no longer an ally of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led
government and was taking part in the Doha talks ‘in his personal
capacity’. He added that “Fazlur Rehman is the head of an independent
party… the government does not have any business in his negotiations
with the [Afghan] Taliban or any other stakeholder.” 9
Reports in Pakistani television channels suggested the visit was part of
the Pakistani government’s efforts to reach out to members of Afghan
Taliban, representatives of which are already in Doha to hold
preliminary talks about opening their political office. 10
JUI-F Position
The special spokesman accompanying Maulana Fazlaur Rehman on his
visit to Qatar told the media that the Maulana is in Qatar on four-day
party tour and he is holding consultations with the party workers in
Qatar. 11 “We are here and going to meet the Pakistani
community and some Qatari officials in the next couple of days, it is a
trip on the invitation of the Pakistani community. Nothing else, this is
a private tour”. 12
While the exact details of the outcome of the meeting in Doha have
not been disclosed, it has been reported by the Afghan media that that
during the meeting the Taliban said that they will only negotiate with
the Kabul administration if it agrees for the establishment of
transitional Government. A member of the HPC said that “peace is an
Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process, if it’s ignored by any country, we
will not accept it.” 13
Analysis
In a joint statement issued after the London summit, Karzai, Zardari
and David Cameron had supported the opening of an office in Doha for the
purpose of negotiations between the Afghan Taliban and the HPC. It was
reported that Pakistan had certain reservations over the proposed
initiative particularly regarding the preconditions that the Karzai
administration consistently attaches to the Doha process. Karzai’s
government wants that Doha office should only be used for negotiations
between the Afghan Taliban and the Afghan HPC. Pakistan felt that such
preconditions were more of a hindrance to a “broad based all-inclusive
reconciliation process”. 14 The Pakistani viewpoint could
have come from its need to involve the Maulana as its representative, to
take lead role in the initiative and speed up the peace process.
Maulana Fazal-ur-Rahman is one of the few the political leaders of
Pakistan, who, wields considerable influence across the Pakistan border
in Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban has received support from the
madrassas run by Maulana's faction of the Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam (JUI).
Fazl ur-Rahman built his public image by supporting Zulfaqir Ali
Bhutto's daughter Benazir Bhutto during her second term as the prime
minister. His cooperation with the PPP to some extent diminished
temporarily his party's image. He had charges leveled against him
regarding supply permits for exporting diesel from Pakistan to
Afghanistan, which earned him the nick name ‘Maulana Diesel’. Maulana
Fazal is from the dominant Deobandi school of thought, the same ideology
as that of the Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban. It is said that the
Maulana also played a role in the last year’s secret talks between the
US, Taliban and Germany in Qatar. President Karzai is also supposed to
have sent a letter to the Maulana to encourage the Taliban to join peace
talks.
JUI-F and TTP
Maulana Fazal-ur-Rahman is among three mainstream Pakistani political
leaders whom the TTP has chosen to be a guarantor in its latest offer
for peace talks with the country’s military. The JUI-F leader has
indicated that he is ready to play the role of a mediator between the
Pakistani authorities and the TTP. 17
Maulana Fazlaur Rehman’s brother and member of the National Assembly,
Maulana Attaur Rehman also confirmed that JUI-F is seriously reviewing
the offer of becoming a guarantor on behalf of the TTP in
government-TTP peace talks. He said that the JUI-F supports dialogue
with the TTP. 18
A leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood party, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, also went to Qatar to hold talks with the Taliban. 19
It’s said that Dr al-Qaradwai has contacts with the Taliban’s office in
Qatar and that he played a role to spur the negotiations. Al-Qaradawi
has a prominent role within the intellectual leadership of the Muslim
Brotherhood and a professional relationship with the Seerah and Sunnah
Center at Qatar University.
Implications for India
Maulana Fazl-Ur-Rahman, is also the Chairman of the special committee
of the Pakistan National Assembly on Kashmir. The present special
committee was constituted on 19th August, 2008. The maulana with his
string of madrassas has today emerged as the ‘thread’ that links the
Afghan Taliban, the TTP and Kashmir. He has the ear of the Pakistani and
Afghan governments and he will have the US support once he secures the
release of Sgt Bowe Bergdahl form the Taliban; and that of the NATO once
he gets the Taliban to the negotiating table. This ‘thread’ winds down
to Dar-ul-uloom in India. The Maulana’s position on India is well known.
The involvement of the Maulana in the peace process raises the
possibility of the Afghan Taliban and the TTP being on to a common
platform, greater focus on Kashmir and reduction in India’s role in
Afghanistan’s future. Irony of the situation is that the man who has
provided the Afghan Taliban foot soldiers and religious legitimacy is
negotiating peace for US/NATO while representing Pakistani interests.
End Notes
- ‘Fazl off to Qatar for Taliban talks’, The Nation, February 10, 2013.
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/na... - Kamran Yousaf, ‘The Qatar initiative: JUI-F chief features in Doha talks’, The Express Tribune, February 11, 2013. http://tribune.com.pk/story/505597/the-qatar-initiative-jui-f-chief-feat...
- ibid ‘
- JUI-F joins US-Taliban reconciliatory process for bringing peace in Afghanistan’, South Asian News Agency ,February 9, 2013 http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m95089&hd=&size=1&l=e
- Ser 2.
- Shamshad TV Headlines, February11, 2013.
- Hewad Daily, February 11, 2013.
- Hasht-e-Subh Daily, February13, 2013).
- Afghan peace talks: Govt distances itself from Fazl’s move’, The Express Tribune, February 11, 2013.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/505580/afghan-peace-talks-govt-distances-its... - Zia Khan. ‘Leading Pakistani cleric in Doha as Afghan Taliban get ready to open office’, Gulf Times, February 10, 2013. http://www.gulf-times.com/qatar/178/details/341638/leading-pakistani-cle...
- ‘JUI-F joins US-Taliban reconciliatory process for bringing peace in Afghanistan’, South Asian News Agency, February 9, 2013 http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m95089&hd=&size=1&l=e
- Ser 10.
- Tolo TV, February 12, 2013.
- Ser 2.
- http://www.abdallahshah.com/JHI-F.html
- Hasht-e-Subh Daily, Editorial, February 13, 2013.
- Ser10.
- Ser11.
- Ser8.
‘
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.