The Asia Foundation’s Survey of the Afghan People in 2019 released on Tuesday finds that Afghans are more optimistic this year than in 2018, and the improvement in the public mood is partly due to the ongoing diplomatic efforts for political settlement of the conflict. According to the findings, almost 90 percent of Afghan people want peace and strongly support the current peace process. As many as 64 percent of the respondents believe that peace negotiations will come to fruition, while 36 percent say the country is going in the right direction compared to 32 percent in 2018. The survey is based on interviews with 18,000 Afghans aged 18 and above, of which 80 percent come from rural and 20 percent from urban areas.
Being optimistic about future is a key to the survival of nations, as they are willing to endure all the hardships to finally have a bright future. Even though Afghans have lived through so much suffering and tragedies over the last half century, they remain hopeful about a bright future for themselves and the country, primarily thanks to the ongoing peace efforts. Afghan people, for the first time in the last two decades, are witness to the willingness and determination of all parties to the conflict for peace. Afghan government, US, Taliban, Afghanistan’s neighbors, regional powers and the international community at large are on the same page that the war in Afghanistan has no military solution. It is a political problem and any attempts to solve it militarily will simply culminate in despondency and destruction.
Afghans have enough bitter experience of violent seizures of power, and no longer can tolerate anything reminiscent of those times. In lieu of recourse to violence, all political sides need to strive to win the hearts and minds of the ordinary people and seek power through legitimate and peaceful means. With the current window of hope for peace, the warring sides should not disappoint Afghan nation again! Washington, Kabul and the Taliban must all show flexibility to restore peace to the war-weary nation by averting demands that surely will frustrate the ongoing peace negotiations. Setting red lines or preconditions for peace talks is averse to the will and aspirations of Afghan people, and whoever wish a peaceful, prosperous and conflict-free life for Afghans have to show their readiness for peace talks without any preconditions, thereby proving their claim of being humanitarian in practice.