Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai, the brother of exiled Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, has said that he has “accepted” the Taliban but does not “support” them. He said he had accepted the insurgent group in the country in order to avoid instability, according to NDTV. Ahmadzai said he had chosen to stay in Afghanistan to help in the transition period, but had not offered the Taliban his “support”.
“I have accepted the Taliban but do not support them… ‘supporting’ is a very strong word. What happens once they are in control… that remains to be seen,” said Ahmadzai who is the chief of the Grand Council of Kuchis.
Ahmadzai said that acceptance and support were “very different things” and his move was meant to prevent further political and economic problems in the country. The economic crisis has worsened in Afghanistan since the Taliban took control. Expressing his concerns, Ahmadzai highlighted the “devastating” departure of business leaders from the country.
On the prospect of violence, particularly at the Kabul airport, after remaining the departure of the western forces, he said, “I don’t think so. They (the Taliban) have shown courtesy to Afghan businesses. They keep saying they will allow women to work, we hear this from senior leaders… we hope they will.”
The Taliban fired in the air and used batons to force people desperate to flee Afghanistan to form orderly queues outside Kabul airport on Sunday, witnesses said, a day after seven people were killed in a crush at the gates. On Sunday, there were no major injuries as gunmen beat back the crowds and long lines of people formed, the witnesses said.
The Taliban, who follow an ultra-hardline version of Islam, have said they want peace and will respect women’s’ rights within the framework of Islamic law. When in power from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban stopped women from working or going out without an all-enveloping burqa and stopped girls from going to school.
Stressing on the need to “bridge the divide” between the Taliban’s social and cultural outlook and the contemporary world, Ahmadzai appealed to the educated classes to be open to the idea of working with the Taliban to restore the economy.
“They (the Taliban) know security. They can handle that very well, but a government is more than security, and that’s where the educated classes can help. I stayed back… to convince the educated and business community not to leave… The departure of business leaders is devastating,” NDTV quoted him as saying.
His remarks come amid reports that Ahmadzai announced his support for the group in the presence of Taliban leader Khalil-ur-Rehman and religious scholar Mufti Mahmood Zakir. Pictures of the meeting have since gone viral.
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