Time was when Pakistanis used to flock in multitudes to Kabul every year in August when Afghan monarchy held annual celebrations marking its rule. Indian films regularly screened in Kabul’s cinema houses was another charm for Pakistanis to visit Kabul. There was complete calm and tranquility in Afghanistan. The Afghan society was liberal with no trace of extremism of any sort
It goes without saying that law and order of Afghanistan was hundred times better than what we have been seeing after the overthrow of King Zahir Shah.
The rulers who moved into the corridors of power during the past 40 years were not sincere to the creed which they preached or claimed to be apostles of. The wave of religious fanaticism, sectarianism and intolerance which has gripped Afghanistan since the overthrow of Zahir Shah was not experienced during his long stay in power.
Is there nobody in the US who could draw the attention of both the Democrats and the Republicans to the fact that though the Americans have spent about 70 billion US dollars on raising a modern Afghan army equipped with the state-of-the -art military equipment, about 40 percent of the country is still in the control of the Taliban ?
As if the menace of the Taliban was not enough, the Daesh have sprung up which poses a graver threat to Afghanistan than the Taliban as its military designs are universal in essence. One feels nostalgic about the good old days when Afghanistan was so safe whether one visited Kabul, Qandahar or Mazaar Shareef. Will those good days ever return?
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