RAWA calls for uprising to get rid of Taliban

Bureau Report PESHAWAR, Oct 20: The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (Rawa) has underlined the need for mobilizing the Afghan people rather than renting out the services of old commanders to get rid of the Taliban.

Talking to Dawn, RAWA spokesperson Saima Karim said old Jihadi commanders, who had turned the country into ruins, were once again manoeuvring to start a fresh civil warin the country. The Afghans had already suffered a lot at their hands and that they were not ready to be deceived once again, she added.

"All anti-fundamentalist, freedom and democracy-loving forces and pro-women's rights forces and also the ex-king of Afghanistan, before it is too late, must play their role in organizing a mass uprising, and thwart the plans of internal and external enemies of Afghanistan."

The spokesperson said the United States, by forming and international coalition against Osama and "his Taliban collaborators" in retaliation for the Sept 11 disaster, had launched aggression on the Afghan people.

She said that despite the claim of the US that only military and terrorist bases of the Taliban and the Al-Qaeda organization would be targeted, a number of Afghan women, men and children had been killed.

She said: "If until yesterday, the US and its allies, without paying least attention to the fate of democracy in Afghanistan, were supporting the policy of Jihadi fundamentalists, today they are sharpening the dagger of the Northern Alliance."

The Afghans hoped for the return of the ex-king, she said and added: "If he comes to the scene while relying on the Northern Alliance and so-called moderate Taliban, he not only will lose his reputation among the people, but also it will endanger the stability and success of whatever setup he forms."

She said: "Any person, Jihadi group or government that supports Taliban on any pretext is the enemy of the Afghans, the people who also hate anti-Osama and anti-terrorism acts of the Northern Alliance. Our people have not forgotten the five years after the collapse of the puppet Najibullah regime."

The RAWA spokespers stated that the Afghan people had two options: either the eradication of the Taliban regime and establishment of a government based on democratic values, or to hand over the country to criminals and killers. "Our compatriots will rise up for the demolition of the Taliban and their Osama so the world should understand that the tired, wounded, mournful and deserted Afghans have no connection with the criminals and their unwanted guests."

She observed that only an overall uprising could prevent the recurrence of the catastrophe that had befallen Afghanistan before, and that such an uprising could pave the way for the establishment of an interim government and preparation for election.

"We believe that once there is no external interference, all ethnic groups of all religions will prove their solidarity for achieving the most sacred national interests for the sake of a free Afghanistan", she added.