Afghanistan: Political history
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2018
Sikh leader to enter parliament unopposed
In boost for minorities, Sikh leader to enter Afghan House, June 19, 2018: The Times of India
From: In boost for minorities, Sikh leader to enter Afghan House, June 19, 2018: The Times of India
Avtar Singh Khalsa will represent Afghanistan’s tiny Sikh and Hindu minority in the next parliament, where he says he hopes to serve the entire country.
Few Afghans are as invested in the government’s quest for peace and stability as the dwindling Sikh and Hindu minorities, which have been decimated by decades of conflict. The community numbered more than 80,000 in the 1970s, but today only around 1,000 remain.
Khalsa, a Sikh and longtime leader of the community, will run unopposed for a seat in the lower house of parliament that was apportioned to the minority by presidential decree in 2016.
After the October election, he will be a solitary voice among 259 legislators, but hopes his 10 years of service in the Afghan army can help him secure a seat on the defence and security committee. “I don’t only want to serve my Sikh and Hindu brothers. I have to be able to serve all the Afghan people, no matter which ethnicity or group they belong to.”
The 52-year-old father of four has lived most of his life in Kabul. He also served as a senator representing the minority, which has long had a seat in the upper house of parliament. Sikhs and Hindus have been driven out of many areas by heavy fighting. They have suffered widespread discrimination in the conservative Muslim country.
Khalsa will join parliament at a time when Afghanistan is struggling against a resurgent Taliban and an Islamic State affiliate. But Khalsa said he will continue to fight for his community’s survival. “I don’t care if I lose my whole family and I get killed for this cause. I will struggle until I get their rights.”
2020
March: Ghani takes oath as president. So does his rival
March 10, 2020: The Times of India
Just a few minutes and a thin wall apart, both President Ashraf Ghani and his chief rival, Abdullah Abdullah, took the oath of office as the president of Afghanistan on Monday, plunging the fragile country into a new crisis during sensitive peace talks.
As both men were delivering their speeches broadcast on split screens across the country, a barrage of rockets landed in the capital near the site of the ceremonies. Sirens blared in the diplomatic area near the presidential palace.
Ghani’s inauguration was briefly interrupted, with some in the audience running for cover. But the president refused to leave the stage. “We have seen bigger attacks. Don’t be afraid of just two blasts,” Ghani said.
The capital city had remained under lockdown for much of Monday, as marathon efforts led by US diplomats failed to prevent a split government after a monthslong election dispute. Ghani, who was declared the winner of a bitterly disputed vote, had announced he was going ahead with his inauguration. Abdullah, who accuses Ghani of winning unfairly through fraud, had said he would hold a simultaneous swearing-in next door.
In a sign of international support for Ghani, his ceremony — aired on state TV — was attended by Washington’s peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, General Austin S Miller, the head of US forces in Afghanistan, as well as a number of foreign dignitaries including the US embassy’s charge d’affaires and Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN secretary general’s personal representative to Afghanistan.
At Abdullah’s inauguration, aired on private Tolo TV, among those present were so called militant commanders, who participated in the brutal civil war of the 1990s and were among those who allied with the US-led coalition to topple the Taliban in 2001. The drama played out in the middle of a negotiated peace plan between the US and the Taliban, which calls for a full American military withdrawal over the next 14 months as well as the start of direct talks between the Afghan government and the insurgent group.
The Afghan government is supposed to be preparing for those talks, which were expected to begin on Tuesday but will now face a delay. The conflict in Kabul has threatened to unravel the democratic side from within even before it sits across the table from the Taliban. Ghani was declared the winner by a margin of about 12,000 votes above the minimum 50% required. Abdullah’s team has disputed about 15% of the total vote. NYT & AGENCIES
