By Jose Kavi

New Delhi: Peace will return to Afghanistan if the international community leaves the country to its own people, says Jesuit Father Alexis Prem Kumar, who had spent several months in Taliban captivity.

The Jesuit priest, who is popularly known as Prem, was abducted on June 2, 2014, in the Zendjan district of Afghanistan’s Herat province. He was released on February 22, 2015, through the intervention of the Indian government. He had been the director of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Afghanistan for five years.

Father Prem, who continues to work for the JRS, now in Sri Lanka, answered email questions from Matters India on August 18, as the Taliban took total control of Afghanistan amid chaos and unrest.

What are your thoughts now, as the Taliban takes over Afghanistan?

I am really concerned and worried on seeing the sudden takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban. I am worried more about my staff, who have to face the terrible consequences and the two Indian Jesuits of JRS in Afghanistan who were not able to return to India due to the sudden developments. I also think of all our students, especially the female students, about their future and their dreams. Also I have great concern for the people of Afghanistan, who are known for their great culture and tradition, are made to face brutal killing, suffering, poverty, illiteracy, male chauvinism and fundamentalism.

Were you keeping track of the developments in Afghanistan after your release?

Not much. But I keep track of the developments of JRS in Afghanistan. In 2020, JRS Afghanistan remembered with gratitude its 15 years of compassionate service in Afghanistan. JRS has released a booklet: JRS Afghanistan frontier Mission, testimonies of hope. Recently Father Stan, who served JRS Afghanistan for many years, asked me to co-author an article for JIVAN Magazine of the Jesuits of South Asia and I shared my thoughts in the article.

What are the major reasons for the Taliban takeover? How will the Taliban rule impact Afghanistan? Do you expect peace to return to that country?

In my opinion, the international community is responsible for the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban. In 2001 when the US forces entered Afghanistan, there was not much resistance from the Taliban. Now after 20 years when the Taliban captured the major towns and cities of Afghanistan, there was not much resistance. This raises the question on the existence and purpose of the international community in Afghanistan. To say it bluntly, the USA and its allies had a proxy rule in the country in the past 20 years and they failed to eradicate the Taliban. On the other hand, the Taliban have grown in strength in every sphere. In my view, it was the terrible mistake of the USA and its allies to enter Afghanistan in 2001 and the mistake continued till the end. The whole episode tells the world that the Taliban cannot be conquered militarily.

I have listened to the Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen. He says that the Taliban has already announced amnesty to the people in the country — women will access education including university, they can wear any type of hijab, not necessarily burka and the Taliban will have an inclusive government and will approach the international community for rebuilding the nation. His interview gives me hope but given their fundamentalist worldview, the change will not take place immediately. There is suspicion and fear among the people that democracy, freedom, and equality of women are not part of the Taliban’s ideology.

But I do hope against hope. My hope evolves from my own captivity and release. If I could be released after eight months and 20 days from Taliban captivity, then there is a possibility of peace in Afghanistan. My living experience with the Afghan people for three years also makes me believe that if the Taliban allows greater participation of women in public life, there is a possibility of peace. Afghanistan has only little more than 30 million people. But it has vast land with lots of minerals, hardworking people, and a growing educated population. If foreign powers do not see Afghanistan as space for their geopolitics and economic exploitation, peace will definitely prevail.

Did the US do the right thing by withdrawing from that troubled country?

The US forces are mighty powerful and the Taliban could only resist but they cannot take over Afghanistan if US forces did not withdraw. As the US president pointed out that there was no good time in the past 20 years to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan. I feel Afghanistan has become bad to worse in the past 20 years in terms of peace.

Positively the people of Afghanistan have grown in terms of education and government establishments. But it is very sad to note that corruption prevailed everywhere in the past 20 years since there was no proper accountability mechanism in the country.

My expectation from US forces was that they should have left after empowering the people and the government but unfortunately they just made them dependent in all twenty years and so their presence was not helpful politically.

Although a lot of chaos and sufferings prevail at the moment, I strongly believe that there may be peace in the future if we leave the country to its own people. I only hope that the Taliban serve the people of Afghanistan and prove to the world that they do not repeat the mistake of the past but bring peace and prosperity in the country.