Asia-Pacific, Headlines, Human Rights

Afghans Rejoice Over Osama Death

Ashfaq Yusufzai

ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan, May 5 2011 (IPS) - The assassination of Al-Qaeda founder and chief Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces has gladdened Afghans, who see him as the person who consigned millions of them to hell.

“His killing has pleased us because Osama was the person who can safely be held responsible for the woes of million of Afghans scattered around the world,” said Juma Gul, an Afghan teacher at the Aryana School in Tehkal locality in this border town.

Afghans are blaming bin Laden for the succession of wars that displaced millions, forcing them to flee to Pakistan and Iran, while driving out the wealthy and educated to Europe and America. With bin Laden gone, they say restoring peace in Afghanistan should be a priority.

Eighteen-year-old Afghan student Umar Pervez said he was overwhelmed by bin Laden’s death. “Last night we organised a music party where we sang and danced to celebrate the death of a person (Osama) who had brought our country to the verge of destruction,” he said.

A majority of Afghans who spoke with IPS said bin Laden’s assassination is a welcome sign and may prove a turning point for war-battered Afghanistan and Pakistan, both of which need peace.

“Now the architect of the international terrorism network has vanished but the international community must continue its campaign against extremists to establish peace in the war-ravaged country,” said Noor Mohammad, an elderly Afghan who lived in Pakistan’s Shamshato refugee camp for 20 years till it was closed in 2004.

“Reconstruction of Afghanistan should now be the top priority of the U.S. and its allies but before that a crusade against the jihadist is required,” student Sanam Bibi told IPS.

Bibi, 12, a sixth grade Afghan student said she was never as happy as she was over the news of bin Laden’s death. She said it is the only news that could go a long way in establishing peace in her country.

The support enjoyed by Al-Qaeda and Taliban has dwindled, said bean seller Shah Zaheer, 28, whose family used to own vast chunks of agricultural land in Afghanistan. The Taliban occupied all of their land, he said.

“Till today, the Afghan people have been bearing the brunt of Osama’s presence in Afghanistan as bomb and suicide attacks have become a common feature of life there,” said Noor Jalal, an Afghan architect, now selling vegetables in Peshawar in Pakistan. “Innocent people, including women and children are being killed mercilessly.”

Bin Laden left a legacy of war in Afghanistan. The first was the war against Russia. The U.S. brought him to Afghanistan to fight the Russian forces that had invaded Kabul in 1979, said Afghan teacher Juma Gul. An estimated three to four million Afghans migrated to the cities of Peshawar and Quetta in Pakistan where they were put in camps.

“The Afghans were opposed to the war against Russians but were helpless to do anything and in the process managed to wait till 1989 when the Russian forces went out of Afghanistan,” he said.

Bin Laden became a cementing force who brought together jihadists from all over the world, and by 1994, Afghanistan had become headquarters of terrorists, he said.

Then came the 9/11 attacks in Washington and New York that sealed the fate of Afghans, who came in droves to Pakistan to escape the indiscriminate bombing by U.S. forces carrying out an offensive in the war on terror. The ones who stayed behind had no resources to migrate.

According to UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), six million Afghans were sent to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan where they spent sleepless nights in 24 makeshift camps that had no electricity, water and sanitation facilities.

Some three generations of Afghan have grown up in Pakistan, where they are looked down upon by Pakistanis and harassed by the local police.

“We were never welcome in Pakistan despite staying here for 30 years now,” said Aziz Khan, a carpenter in Peshawar’s Board Bazaar. The bazaar is commonly known as Muhajir (refugee Bazaar) and houses shops and other business ventures run by Afghans.

Pakistan disbanded all refugee camps in 2004, leaving thousands high and dry.

“Had Osama not arrived in Afghanistan, we would have been living peacefully in our country. Now, there is no place for peaceful people,” Khan said.

Schools were destroyed, police and government buildings attacked by Taliban who are inspired by bin Laden, he said.

Because of bin Laden, Afghan children are growing up out of school and without playgrounds. “We don’t have a place to live in because paying rent is out of reach for us. We have been living in a tent in a hamlet outside Peshawar,” said Noor Mohammad.