Nisar Ahmad

It has been four months since the trade ban on Afghanistan was imposed. Pakistan had placed a ban on Afghanistan for the first time in 1960 when, on the orders of Sardar Daoud Khan, the Afghan army attacked the Bajaur region. After the Afghan forces failed in Bajaur, Daoud Khan continued his aggressive policy, which led Pakistan to sever diplomatic ties with Afghanistan and shut down Afghan transit trade. This crippled Kabul’s economy and pushed Afghanistan into global isolation. King Zahir Shah was the ruler of Afghanistan at that time, and he openly disliked Daoud Khan’s policies. Zahir Shah was a moderate leader who always tried to maintain Afghanistan’s traditional neutrality. He feared that the country might fully fall into the communist bloc. He wanted better relations with Pakistan, which is why during the 1965 and 1971 Pakistan–India wars, he adopted a positive and non-hostile stance toward Pakistan. This proved to be a major help for Pakistan. In July 1973, when ...

Reading is not just an act. It is a journey that carries you towards the quiet space within yourself. Books become a mirror that shows you who you truly are. They reveal your strengths and expose your weaknesses. The book Fareb-e-Naatamaam , written by Juma Khan Sufi, is once again on my table these days. Sufi is a figure who lived through history from the front row. He spent years in self-imposed exile in Kabul alongside Ajmal Khattak, remained close to every Afghan ruler from Sardar Daud to Dr. Najib, and served as a link between the ANP leadership and the Afghan, Indian and Soviet governments. During those years, he was not only an eyewitness but also an active organizer of the ANP’s activities from Kabul. Afghan governments benefited from his services and even the Soviet Union regarded him as an important man, trained by the Communist Party itself. With this background, the importance of his book becomes clear. Fareb-e-Naatamaam is the testimony of someone who saw history unfold...

Pakistan has always repeated its own mistakes, and every time it has been Pakistan itself that suffered in the end. After the defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, a joint government of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Professor Rabbani was formed. To weaken that government, the Pakistani establishment used Nawaz Sharif as a tool, and the government fell. Later, in 1992 during Benazir Bhutto’s time, the plan for the Taliban was introduced. The real problem was that the Pakistani and American establishments were afraid of communist ideas, but they were also afraid of the Afghan leaders who followed the Muslim Brotherhood style of thinking. Many educated young people from colleges and universities supported Hekmatyar, and this worried both Pakistan and the United States. Because of this fear, a new group called the Taliban was created so that the government would fall into the hands of strict and rigid religious elements who would not threaten establishment interests. Then, during Musharra...