Pashtoons marginalised at Bonn moot

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, 11/27/2001 (Jang Group) :: Though the UN and Western diplomats and media as well as the Northern Alliance often refer to the former Afghan king Zahir Shah as an ethnic Pashtoon who would safeguard his community's interest in Tuesday's power-sharing talks, only two out of the eight delegates chosen to represent him at the inter-Afghan conference in Bonn speak Pashto.

One of them is Hidayat Amin Arsala, who belongs to the eastern Nangarhar province and who served as foreign minister in the mujahideen government in the 1990s. Arsala's daughter was recently engaged to Zahir Shah's youngest son Mirwais. The other is Azizullah Wassifi, who hails from Kandahar and was minister of agriculture in late president Sardar Mohammad Daoud's cabinet.

Another former minister Abdul Sattar Seerat, who is an Uzbek, would lead the ex-monarch's delegation. Zahir Shah's ambitious grandson Mustafa Zahir and Zalmay Rasul, who too is a Mohammadzai Durrani like the former king, are also members of the delegation.

Another Mohammadzai in the team is Ms Sima Wali, a woman activist living in the US. The second female delegate is the Germany-based Ms Rona Mansuri, daughter of former Afghan prime minister Mohammad Yousaf Khan who was a Tajik.

The eighth member of the delegation is Mohammad Amin Farhang, son of Afghan scholar Mohammad Siddiq Farhang. The late Farhang, who belonged to a Persian-speaking Syed family from Kabul, had enraged Pashtoon nationalists by blaming the Pashtoons for Afghanistan's backwardness.

The common factor among these six Zahir Shah representatives is that they are Persian-speakers. Zahir Shah, his grandson and other members of his family also cannot speak Pashto. They are among lakhs of Pashtoons in Afghanistan who forgot their mother tongue and adopted Dari, the Afghan variant of Persian, because the latter happened to be the court language.

Another common factor among the eight Zahir Shah delegates to the Bonn conference is their prolonged stay in the West. Among the lot, only Arsala spent some time in Afghanistan while serving as foreign minister and has been regularly visiting Pakistan over the years to keep himself abreast of the situation in his war-ravaged homeland. Like the Italy-based Zahir Shah, who has been away from Afghanistan for 29 years, others in his team too have never set foot in their country for years.

It was learnt that the former king had also directed five of his other prominent supporters to reach Bonn to advise his delegation during the course of the UN-sponsored conference. Four of them -- Ibrahim Sherzoi, Abdul Khaliq Fazal, Dr Qasim Fazli and Dr Abdur Rahman --, were reportedly on their way to Bonn. The fifth, Professor Rasul Amin, was still in Peshawar and is unlikely to make the trip.

It appears that Zahir Shah and his top advisers have made a conscious effort to include more non-Pashtoons in his delegation to negate the impression being created by certain quarters that he represents only the Pashtoons.

The former king, who has lived in self-exile in Rome since 1973 after his deposition from power in a bloodless coup by his cousin Sardar Daoud, is keen to present himself as a unifying force acceptable to all Afghans.

His supporters argue that the Pashtoons consider him as one of their own on account of his Pashtoon origins while the ethnic minorities such as Tajiks, Uzbeks, Turkmen, Hazaras, etc feel an affinity with him because he speaks their Dari language.

Some other invitees to the conference are also expected to support Zahir Shah as the head of a transitional government. Hamid Gailani, son of former mujahideen leader and long-time royalist Pir Sayed Ahmad Gailani, would be among his staunchest supporters. So would be Badshah Khan Zadran, a tribal elder who has aroused controversy following the Taliban retreat by declaring himself the governor of the three southern provinces of Khost, Paktia ad Paktika.

The three invitees to the conference from the so-called "Cyprus Process" could also gravitate towards the former king in case of a stalemate on power sharing with the Northern Alliance. They include the Iran-based Humayun Jareer, Syed Ishaq Gillani who lives in Peshawar and Dr Anwar.

However, those involved in the Iran-backed Cyprus Process, the name given to annual meetings of Afghan notables convened in the Greek Cyprus island, would have to consider Tehran's sensitivities before taking sides at Bonn. The Iranian government isn't a keen supporter of the return of Zahir Shah and would be happy to see the Northern Alliance becoming entrenched in power in Kabul with deposed president Burhanuddin Rabbani reclaiming his job.

Nangarhar governor Haji Abdul Qadeer, though an ally of the Northern Alliance, may also go along with other Pashtoon invitees to the Bonn conference and support the Zahir Shah initiative that calls for demilitarizing Kabul and convening a Loya Jirga to decide Afghanistan's future direction.

However, it is obvious that the Northern Alliance would be in a much stronger bargaining position at the Bonn conference than those supporting Zahir Shah on account of its recent battlefield victories against the Taliban achieved with active military assistance by countries as diverse as the US, Russia, Britain, Iran, France, India, Uzbekistan, Australia and Tajikistan.

Peshawar Pakistan (27/11/01 (Jang Group): Walaupun para diplomat barang dan PBB serta media malahan juga Pakatan Utara kerap menyebut bekas Raja Zahir Shah sebagai seorang etnik Pahstun yang dianggap mampu menjaga kepentingan puaknya dalam perbincangan yang bermula Selasa (semalam), hanya dua orang daripada lapan orang delegasi yang terpilih mewakili beliau di persidangan itu yang mampu bercakap bahasa Pashto.

Salah seorang daripada dua orang itu ialah Hidayat Amin Arsala, yang berasal dari wilayah Nangarhar timur dan pernah menjadi menteri luar kerajaan mujahidin pada 1990-an dulu. Anak perempuan Arsala baru sahaja bertunang dengan anak bongsu Zahir Shah yang bernama Mirwais. Seorang lagi yang boleh bertutur Pashto ialah Azizullah Wasifi yang berasal daripada Kandahar dan pernah menjadi menteri pertanian dalam kerajaan Sardarf Mohammad Daoud.

Seorang lagi beks meneri ialah Abdul Satar Seerat, seorang bangsa Uzsbek, yang mengetuai perwakilan Zahir Shah. Cucu bekas raja itu yang mempunyai cita-cita tinggi ialah Mustfafa Zahir dan Zalmahy Rasul, yang juga merupakan kaum Mohammadzai Durani seperti bekas raja itu dan juga beberapa ahli rombonganya.

Seorang lagi puak Mohamadzai dalam pasukan itu ialah Ms. SimaWali, seorang aktivis wanigta yang kini menetap di AS. Ada seorang lagi wakil wanita yang menetap di Jerman, Ms. Rona mansuri, anak perempuan bekas perdana mengeri Afghan, Mohammad Yousef Khan, seorang Tajik.

Anggota ke delapan delegasi Zahir Shah ialah Mohammad Amin Farhang, anak lelaki kepada Mohammad Siddiq Farhang, seorang cendekiawan Afghan yang terkenal. Arwah Farhang adalah anggota satu kumpulan Syed yang bertutur dalam bahasa Farsi daripada Kabul. Beliau pernah menaikkan kebencian nasionali Pashtun kerna menuduh puak Pashton bertanggungjawab kepada kemunduran Afghanistan.

Enam orang wakil delegasi Zahir Shah ini berupaya bertutur bahasa Parsi. Zahir Shah dan ahli keluarganya memang tidak boleh bertugtur dalam bahasa Pashto. Mereka ini dianggap antara beribu masyarakat Pashtoon di Afghanistan yang terlupa bahasa ibunda mereka dan telah memilih Dari, satu bahasa Farsi mengikut loghat Afghan, kerana itulah bahasa yang digunakan dalam mahkamah.

Ada satu kesamaan lagi di antara lapan wakil perundingan yang mewakili Zahir Shah, ialah mereka semuanya menetap di negara barat. Namun di kalangan mereka, Arsala telah pulang ke Afghanistan ketika menjadi menteri luar dan sejak itu pernah melawat Pakistan untuk menyegarkan pengetahuannya akan hal ehwal negara yang musnah oleh peperangan. Seperti Zahir Shah yang sudah berada di luar Afghanistan selama 29 tahun, ramai anggota pasukannya tidak pun menjejakkan kaki di bumi Afghanistan untuk bertahun lamanya.

Adalah difahamkan juga bekas raja itu telah mengarahkan lima orang penyokongnnya untuk pergi ke Bonnn memberikan nasihat kepada rombongan perwakilannya sepanjang persidangan itu. Empat orang anara mereka itu -- Ibarahim Serzoi, Abdul Khaliq Fazal, Dr. Qasim Fazil dan Dr. Abdul Rahman --dilaporkan berada di perjalanan. Yang kelima Professor Rasul Amin, masih berada di Peshawar dan tidak mungkin akan membuat perjalanannya.

Nampaknya Zahir Shah dan penasihat utamanya sudah bersusah payah untuk memasukkan banyak nama bukan-Pashtun dalam rombongan yang mewakilinya untuk menumpulkan tohmahan yang sengaja dicetuskan betapa beliau hanya mewakili puak Pashtun.

Bekas raja yang sudah menetap di Rome sejak 1973, setelah digulingkan oleh sepupunya Sardar Daoud dalam satu rampasan kuasa tanpa pertumpahan darah, memang berminat menonjolkan dirinya sebagai satu kuasa penambat yang boleh diterima oleh seluruh masyarakat Afghan..

Para penyokong beliau mempertahankan pendirian betapa puak Pashtun menganggap beliau sebagai salah seorang ahli keluarga mereka berasaskan asal usulnya berdarah Pashtun, sedangkan kumpulan minoriti seperti Tajik, Uzbek, Turkemen, hazarah dan sebagainya memang kurang selesa kerana dia hanya mampu bertutur bahasa Dari.

Beberapa orang jemputan kepada persidangan itu dijangka menyokong perlantikan Zahir Shah sebagai ketua kerajaan sementara. Hamid Gailani, seorang anak bekas pemimpin mujahidin dan seorang royalis yang berusia, Pir Sayed Ahmad Gailani, adalah antara mereka yang menyokong kuat Sahir Shah. Begitu juga dengan badshah Khan Zadiran, seorang pemimpin suku kaum yang telah menctuskan kontroversi sejurus Taliban berundur dengan mengisytiharkan dirinya seorang gabenor di tiga wilayah di selatan Afghanistan, Khost, Paktia, dan Paktika.

Terdapat tiga orang jemputan yang diberi gelaran "Cyprus Process', mereka dijangka memberikan sokongan kepada bekas raja itu seandainya berlaku shahmat dalam usaha berkongsi kuasa dengan pakatan Utara. Mereka ini termasuklah Humayun jreer yang berpengkalan di Iran, Sayed Ihaq Giliani yang menetap di Peshawar dan Dr. Anwar.

Walau bagaimana pun, mereka yang terlibat dengan 'Cyprus Process' yang didalangi oleh Iran itu, perlu mendapatkan pendapat Teheran sebelum membuat pendirian mereka di Bonn. Mereka diberi gelaran 'Cyprus Process' kerana mereka adalah anggota rakyat Afghan yang mengadakan pertemuan tahunan mereka di pulau Cyrus kepunyan Greek. Kerajaan IRan bukannya berminat sangat dengan kepulangan Sahir Shah kerana lebih selesa melihatkan Pakatan Utara berakar umbi di Kabul dengan bekas presiden Burhanuddin Rabbani mendapat semula jawatannya.

Gaboner Nangarhar, Haji Abdul Qadeer, walaupun merupakan seorang sekutu Pakatan Utara, mungkin memihak kepada jemputan Pashtun yang lain di persidangan Bonn itu untuk menyokong Zahir Shah, yang mendesak agar Kabul dibebaskan daripada pendudukan pasukan tentera dan ditubuhkan satu 'Loya Jirga' (majlis musyawarah) untuk menentukan masa depan Afghanistan.

Namun, adalah jelas sekarang betapa Pakatan Utara berada di satu kedudukan yang lebih kebal dalam perundingan berbanding mereka yang menyokong Zahir Shah disebabkan kemenangan yang baru dirasainya menentang puak Taliban. Tidak kiralah kemenangan yang itu adalah hasil bantuan ketenteraan daripada pelbagai negara seperti Amerika, Russia, Britain, Iran, Peranchis, India, Uzbekistan, Australia dan Tajikistan.