The Vienna meeting on the current situation in Afghanistan, solutions, and challenges will be convened on September 15th, with the presence of 31 political figures opposed to the Taliban in Vienna the capital of Austria.
The Taliban in Afghanistan have established what they claim to be a structured administration and an inclusive cabinet within the first year of its rule. Military and political figures have, however, established structures overseas parallel with the Taliban’s efforts and often in the opposite direction.
This is a continuation of the activities of parties outside of Afghanistan that have a critical perspective toward the Taliban’s rule. These groups have also had meetings, but the Vienna meeting, which will feature at least 31 political and intellectual figures from Afghanistan, is set to take place on September 15.
In a statement that assesses one year of Taliban rule, they argue that the Taliban’s practices and ideologies have not changed and that the Taliban’s presence is putting the values that have been attained over the past two decades in danger of being completely destroyed.
Participating members of the Vienna meeting:
1- Ahmad Massoud, leader of the National Resistance Front (NRF)
2- Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta, former Minister of Foreign Affairs
3- Rahmatullah Nabil, former Director of the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS)
4- Fawzia Kofi, women’s rights activist and former member Afghan Delegation for Peace Negotiation
5- Shukria Barekzai, former Afghan Ambassador to Norway
6- Sayed Sadat Mansoor Naderi, former State Minister for Peace
7- Mirwais Balkhi, former Minister of Education
8- Alia Yilmaz, women’s rights activist
9- Shahgul Rezai, a former member of the lower house of the parliament
10- Khalil Mujahid
11- Afzali –
12- Abdul Sattar Hussaini, a former member of the lower house of the parliament
13- Said Tayeb Jawad, former Afghan Ambassador to the Russian Federation
14- Harun Najafizada, journalist
15- Rasool Faryabi, a former member of the lower house of the parliament
16 Masooma Khawari, former Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology
17- Fazel Ahmad Manawi, former Minister of Justice
18- Nazif Shahrani, professor of anthropology
19- Noor Rahman Akhlaqi, former Minister of Refugees and Repatriation
20- Pirbakhsh Gardiwal, a former member of the lower house of the parliament
21-Jawed Ludin, former Afghan Ambassador to Canada
22- Amir Mohammad Khaksar, a former member of the lower house of the parliament
23-Zala Zadran
24- Said Taha Sadeq, a former member of the lower house of the parliament
25- Musadiq Faqiri, member of the Jamiat-e-Islami political party
26- Dr. Hussain Yasa, journalist
27- Abdul Karim Khudam, the former governor of Samangan province
28- Bashir Ahmad Ansari, religious scholar
29- Daud Shah Saba, former Minister of Mines and Petroleum
30- Davood Moradian, General Director of Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies
31. Zalmi Rasool, the former presidential candidate of Afghanistan
These political figures believe that sustainable peace will be possible with the installment of a legitimate government supported by the people of Afghanistan and the international community.
Torture, killing, brutality, intimidation, suppression of the media, forced displacement, and the issuance of stringent restrictions have summed up the reality of Afghanistan today.
They claim that the Taliban has no intention to fight terrorism and that the assassination of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the chief of the al-Qaeda network in Kabul, demonstrates the Taliban’s clear association with al-Qaeda.
The Taliban not only did not come to an agreement but also took control of district by district, province by province, day by day, until the group finally took the capital, overthrowing the republic regime and ushering in a new era of Islamic Emirate as the Afghan Peace Process proved futile since negotiations between the defunct Afghan government and the Taliban reached a stalemate.
Even though the government had released over 5,000 Taliban prisoners as a signal of its willingness to participate in dialogue and even though a power-sharing arrangement was being considered during the Doha peace talks, the Taliban nonetheless took control of the country.
After a year under Taliban rule, political figures from Afghanistan, including women’s rights activists, former members of the parliament representing different provinces, journalists, and researchers in Vienna.
The performance of the first year under Taliban rule will be discussed, as well as the pervasive humanitarian crisis, the economic system’s breakdown, the exodus of experts and educated people, the deprivation of education for girls, the restrictions on the media’s activities, the emergence of ethnic tensions, and the escalation of terrorist groups’ activities.
