Stealthy
Arabisataion of Afghanistan
Prof. A. Rasul Amin
Director, Afghanistan Study Center
University of Peshawar, Pakistan
Submitted to the IAS by Prof. Amin in August 2001
Professor Rasul Amin, director of Peshawar based (Afghanistan Study Center), in
interview with Tehran radio said that a few months ago Mohammad Omar Akhund had
issued a decree that any person(s) or institution(s) propagating and publicizing
any other religion except Islam in Afghanistan would be punished according to
the Sharia Law. So for I judge the detainees of Shelter Now in Afghanistan must
have known the decree. Ignorance is not an excuse for violating the law of
another land.
But as a matter of fact it is extremely hard for an Afghan to convert his or her
religion, Islam, into any other religion. Historically speaking Afghan nation
has given more sacrifices for Islam than any nation in this part of the world.
This is an undeniable fact that Islam is an inseparable part of Afghans lives.
Now the real question is why these foreign NGOs, come to Afghanistan in the name
of welfare services. In accordance the laws of any state it is the
responsibility of any given government to provide all sorts of welfare service
to all the citizens of the given state, not to a particular political, social,
religious, gender, ethnical or ruling group. It is the most onus of the
government to facilitate equal opportunities of job, education, health and other
facilities to the citizens without any discrimination. People must get equal
benefits from the laws of their homeland. If a government feels its
responsibility in providing equal opportunity to the citizens, then, I think,
there is no need for any foreign agency to work as a welfare NGO in that state.
The real problem is there is no such a central government to render equal
welfare and economic services to the entire citizen and work for the Afghan
national interests. Unfortunately both warring factions are fighting for foreign
interests and the responsibility to the Afghan nation has absolutely been
ignored in the last 23 years. The hapless people of Afghanistan have been kept
as hostage by the armed groups and the warring factions have brought
heart-rending tragedies to the whole Afghans inside and outside the country.
According to the international and Pakistani media and reliable sources from
inside, the number of Arabs in Afghanistan increases day by day. Majority of
these Arabs is coming from the wealthy oil-producing Gulf States. In
collaboration with the Taliban the Arabs are fully determined to eradicate the
centuries-old culture, national tradition and historical identity of Afghans
first, then implementing the stealthy Arabisation process in the name of true
Islam in our country. Changing the name of Radio Afghanistan into Shariat,
replacing the historical Afghan political, social, cultural and educational
institutions by the Arab model and destruction of statues etc are good examples.
They have financial assistance of patro-dollar, training (even learning Pashto/Dari
languages) established Arab leadership in our country and firm resolve in
carrying out the Arabisation throughout Afghanistan.
All the oil-producing Gulf-states approximately earn US 50 billion dollars from
their oil annually, for example if the wealthy Shiekhs and others spend only one
billion patrol dollar on madrassas, mosques, teachers salaries etc on the
Arabisataion, it is jut peanut contribution for the wealthy followers of
Salafiat or Wahabism,
Since a long time all the foreign NGOs were the target of harassment, threat and
abuse by "our Arab guests". These wealthy Arabs want to drive all
other foreign NGOs out of Afghanistan and replace them by the Arab NGOs in order
to go faster with the Arabisation away from the access of foreign media or
personnel. Even they force the educated Afghans to flee from their own home
under one or another pretexts just to chock the vice of those who want
Afghanistan for the Afghans only. The time is not that much for away that the
Afghans will be permanently deprived of their own historical home-land and once
an Afghanistan will go the fate of the Arabised states of Egypt, Seria, Sudan,
Algeria, Iraq etc which had their own historical identities before the advent of
Arabs in these countries. With the coming of Arabs they lost their languages,
cultures etc and gradually took the form of Arab nations.
Answering to a question. Professor Rasul Amin said that a few months ago Mullah
Omar Akhund stated that there should be 2500 madrassas throughout Afghanistan.
As a matter of fact the curriculum and medium of instruction will be Arabic. The
question is which source will finance such a great network of the madrassas?
Definitely by the wealthy Arabs capable enough affording this huge expenses.
In an answer to another question professor Amin said the United States came to
the Afghan Jehad through Saudi Arabia to counter the Iranian influence in the
region with assistance of the Gulf State to Afghans. As a result the influence
of Wahabism within and around Afghanistan was inevitable. In collaboration with
the United States the Gulf-States, especially Saudi Arabia encouraged the
wealthy Arabs to contribute to the Afghan Jehad in any form including recruiting
Arabs to go and fight along the Afghans. In the Salafiat (Wahabism) there is no
room for the accepted four Sunni imams, even for Abu Hanifa, called the great
Imam and followed by all the Sunnies in Afghanistan and adjacent countries. At
the moment Afghanistan is golden place for the Arabs then they can use it as a
stronghold for central and south Asia in the future. Right now they finance the
madrassas, and some religious-political groups in some neighboring Muslim
communities.
To the last question Amin said, there might be political differences between the
Saudi Royal Dynasty and Osama bin Laden but in firm belief in Salafiat there is
no difference at all. As a matter of faith both the opponents work for their
common belief jointly, not only in Afghanistan rather throughout the whole
world. It is the power of patro-dollar that will certainly bring drastic changes
in the infrastructures of Afghanistan, if the Afghans are not given the right of
self-determination soon.