September 9th has become a day of terror for Kabul residents. Every year on this day, Kabul appears to be a battleground. There is no law and order on September 9, and everyone does whatever he wants. A sheer state of anarchy sweeps Kabul, making it hard to believe that it is the capital of a country, which has a government and over 350,000 armed forces. Yesterday, Kabul was again filled with fear and panic. The sound of a barrage of gunfire resonated throughout the city as if it was not a city, but a battlefield. Convoys of vehicles packed with armed people were roaming the city streets at a very high speed as if they were in a car race. These all are done by people who call themselves the supporters of Ahmad Shah Masood, a late commander of the Northern Alliance, to commemorate the Martyrs Day. They pay tribute to their “hero” in a way that has pestered Kabul residents.
It is a problem repeated every year on the first day of the “Martyrs Week”. Neither the government nor the politicians who consider themselves the followers of Masood’s school of thought take any actions to stop the thugs from roaring the city in their motorcades. The government considers to have fulfilled its responsibility by issuing a press release by the Kabul Garrison Command. The Jamiatis — members of Jamiat Islami Afghanistan, a political party with which Ahmad Masood was affiliated — clear themselves of the blame by saying that those individuals are not affiliated with them. A press release alone cannot exempt the government from its responsibility. The existence of such a large number of security forces is for the protection of the lives and properties of people. Their duty is not to only accompany motorcades of senior government officials and protect their mansions.
The Jamiat leaders, who portray themselves more civilized, have to account for the state of anarchy on September 9th. They cannot absolve themselves from their responsibility by declaring that the hooligans have nothing to do with them. These people spreading terror and panic are carrying Jamiat’s flag and photos of Ahmad Shah Masood. The majority of them have close relations with the very Jamiat leaders who distance themselves from these people. Jamiat has to be accountable to Kabul residents for the savagery of its loyalists before calling itself as one of Afghanistan’s leading political parties. If these louts are not affiliates of Jamiat, its political leaders have to put an end to this culture of fear and panic spreading in order to preserve its reputation.
A day of horror in Kabul
