The Taliban must recognise that Afghanistan has changed

February 29, 2020 was a historic day. Our president Dr Ashraf Ghani released a joint declaration for bringing peace to Afghanistan with the US administration, as the Taliban signed a deal with the US in Doha.

Our signing ceremony was attended by our senior political figures including opposition, MPs, tribal elders, jihadi leaders, women and men, young and old: it was an inclusive event. Meanwhile, the Taliban were representing themselves; a monotone group of men with the same ideology and values.

The pictures show that our society has the capacity to integrate the Taliban and their families and respect their values. We are already practicing tolerance between ourselves.

I hope the Taliban will change their perspectives and expectations and will realise in the next months that the only route to peace is through integration of the Taliban and their families into our existing democratic structure – with Afghan and Islamic values which will allow our people to welcome them with tolerance.

Tolerance has to be practiced both ways. We will accept their way of life. The people of Afghanistan proved it in many cases, already tolerating communities in our country with conservative values. The Taliban, in their turn, have to respect the values of liberal and progressive Afghans. Our Afghan women worked hard for their rights. They are an essential pillar of our society, business and politics. Our society is free and our government is one of the most tolerant in the region when it comes to freedom of speech.

Our youth invest their lives into education and face immense challenges to access modern information technology and transform our culture through modern communication tools and social media. We are connected throughout the country from Kabul to the last district with internet service.

The international community and especially the United States did not invest only in roads and buildings. We, the people of Afghanistan are grateful for all support efforts, especially in the areas of education and technology. The impact of these efforts is already visible throughout the entire country. You can see even in remote villages people with mobile phones connected to the world, youngsters creating social society groups, elders ready to sell their family land to enhance the education of their granddaughters and grandsons. Soon it will be visible on the world stage. These achievements are not negotiable with the Taliban.

We are not the post-1992 society, split into factions. That is ancient history. Ethnocentric ideologies have lost their momentum in our new Afghanistan. The new generation has no need for “leaders” to protect their ethnicity-based interests. The time of the warlords is over.

Government officials and civil society involved in the peace process have the responsibility to explain our existing structures to all stakeholders. Our government should lead the peace process and find ways to integrate the Taliban, supported by all citizens and the international community. But at the same time we expect our government to protect our existing values.

The current view of some Taliban, who are trying to suggest political and social frameworks created by them as a skeleton for a “new” Afghanistan, will face resistance by the people of Afghanistan. This will jeopardise the peace process.

We need peace and unity. We don’t need a new Afghanistan. We already have one.