Caliphate or Colonialism: The Decisive Choice for the Ummah in Afghanistan and Pakistan
(Translated)
News:
With the aim of ending the existing crisis between Afghanistan and Pakistan, following the ceasefire agreement in Qatar, a meeting was held in Istanbul, in which the two sides affirmed the continuation of the ceasefire, and agreed to hold a high-level meeting on November 6 to discuss practical ways to implement it. A specific mechanism for monitoring and verifying the implementation of the agreement is scheduled to be formulated during this meeting, which guarantees the maintenance of peace and allows the possibility of punishing the violating party.
Comment:
These efforts will only lead to lasting peace when the Muslims of Afghanistan and Pakistan stand on an intellectual and political front, and even a military one, and do not surrender their cause to the colonialists or their allies such as Qatar and Turkey, but to Islam and its rulings. Meetings that are held within the framework of the dictates, conspiracies, and interests of the colonial powers are, at best, only a temporary repetition of the ceasefire; And in the end, a cover for the continuation of colonial competition over land, resources, and economic routes, as well as an attempt to prevent the Islamic Ummah from awakening and uniting in the region.
The importance of this issue lies in the fact that South Asia has become an arena of conflict for the interests of global colonial powers. Afghanistan, with its abundant mineral resources and vital geopolitical location, and Pakistan, with its strategic corridors and ports, play a key role in the geoeconomic equations of the region. America - in reference to the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan, the widespread handover of weapons to the Taliban, and the abandonment of Bagram Airfield, which enjoys a geopolitical and geostrategic location for monitoring China and Russia - seeks to pressure the Taliban government and force it to accept its terms. On the other hand, China, with large-scale investments, especially within the framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, seeks to establish a network of infrastructure to access global markets, a network that will connect the region to its economy.
In the face of this influence, America is seeking parallel initiatives to maintain its economic and security hegemony in the region, and at the same time is trying to keep the Afghan government away from the sphere of influence of China and Russia and prevent it from becoming an influential force in the Islamic Ummah. The competition between America and China, with the participation of America's ally, India, aims to make Afghanistan hostile to Pakistan and close to India, and to transform the region into a field of colonial competition, where economic projects are tools for political hegemony and control over the resources of the Ummah.
Therefore, the short and long-term meetings of these governments to resolve the Afghan-Pakistani crisis will never solve this problem. As long as the United States' policy in the region is based on creating tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan; As long as a certain circle within the Pakistani army, which puts pressure on America under the name of "counter-terrorism" or "pressuring the Taliban," remains in power; As long as armed groups exist in the region and resist the oppressive and secular policies of governments; As long as the imposed Durand Line exists in this region; And as long as national governments, based on their narrow and factional interests, practice politics against each other, this problem will never be solved.
However, the root of the crisis is not limited to geopolitical games, but stems from the intellectual political disease represented in the fragmentation of the Ummah into states and artificial borders built on nationalism and patriotism. As long as the Muslims of Afghanistan and Pakistan define their identity on the basis of colonial national borders, ignore the Islamic identity as one Ummah, and do not cut off the hands of the colonialists from the region, no agreement will last. The intellectual, political and geographical unity of these two countries must be formed on the basis of loyalty to Allah, Islam, and the Muslims, not on the basis of the transient interests of the nation-state or agreements with the colonialists.
The real solution lies in three basic pillars:
First, a complete break from dependence on colonial powers and a halt to economic, military, and intelligence cooperation with them.
Second, rebuilding the regional economy based on managing the resources of the Ummah and developing an independent infrastructure.
Third, the intellectual, political, and military mobilization to eliminate nationalism and revive the consciousness of the one Ummah.
Elites, scholars, parties, and institutions must become the focus of efforts to restore politics on the basis of Islam. The only framework that brings together these pillars is a political system based on Islamic Sharia and the unity of the Ummah, a system that removes artificial borders, and does not allow colonial projects to impose their hegemony on the structure of dependency between countries. Establishing the Rightly Guided Caliphate is the real way to save the region from the clutches of colonialism, and restore sovereignty to the Ummah. This path requires sacrifice, awareness, and political will, and there is no salvation except through it.
Written for the Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir
Yousef Arsalan
Member of the Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Wilayah Afghanistan
