Wt oh EE in WORLD CANADIAN EYEWITNESS IN AFGHANISTAN ‘National reconciliation process is taking hold...’ MOSCOW — The current situation in Afghanistan is tense but stable, says Omar Latif, a Canadian communist and activist in the Pakistani community, who spent eight days in Kabul and surround- ing countryside in iate September. The process of ‘‘national reconciliation” introduced last January by the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan {PDPA) is proceeding in a halting fash- ion, “but definitely appears to be build- ing up momentum,” he says. Interviewed in Moscow on his way home from Kabul, Latif spoke vividly of his impressions of the place. ‘“*You realize there’s a war on before your plane has even landed,” he says. “‘As I was coming in there was a fighter plane circl- ing the airliner, and I saw helicopters rising from the tarmac to scatter decoy flares —to distract any ‘stinger’ missiles, I was told.” Indeed, notes Latif, the Afghan contras have shown few scruples about shooting down civilian planes. Two days before he arrived in the country, a passenger aircraft was knocked down with a ‘stinger’ missile near Kundoz, with the loss of 13 lives. “In Kabul itself there are armed mili- tia everywhere — though I saw no Soviet troops — but the population seems to live and go about its business in a surprisingly normal fashion,”’ he says. Latif himself speaks Urdu, and was able to get around and talk with many people. ‘‘My personal feeling,’’ he says, “is that most people in the capital gen- erally support the government and the goals of the revolution. People seem well-off, business in the market is brisk, and no one wants to see the war come to Kabul. ‘I think the bottom line is that the PDP will not only hold on to power but will also press forward with the revolution. I was told that the main aim at this time is to put a peaceful end to the fighting which has doné so much damage and killed so many on both sides. ‘Based on discussions I held with var- ious government officials and many other people, I think the PDP -has accomplished a number of things since 1980. PDPA Stronger “‘First, the party has succeeded in unifying itself, and has increased its strength and activity. It now has 130,000 members. Second, the army has been enormously bolstered — it now has 500,000 men under arms. One-fifth of these are party members. Third, it has been successful in creating a broad spec- trum of mass organizations, and involv- ing them in the life of the country. For example, trade unions, women’s move- ment, youth league, etc. ... ‘Fourth, and perhaps most signi- ficant, people from all strata of Afghan society, and all backgrounds, are increasingly becoming involved in what is called ‘the national fatherland front’. This is, in effect, a grassroots social body, which meets at various levels, and includes prominent figures from past governments, tribal elders, and even members of armed opposition groups. The purpose of the ‘front’ is to create a democratic interface between the government and the people. It provides a forum for discussion, a means of bringing grievances to the attention of authority — and hammering out the compromises that will be necessary to build a satisfac- tory peace.” 8 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 14, 1987 It was hard at first to grasp this idea of democracy, notes Latif, since it bears so little resemblance to Canadian forms. ‘*The first thing you have to take into ac- count in Afghanistan, and always bear in mind, is that this is a very traditional, almost medieval society.” One example that impressed him very deeply was the Grand Jirgah (Assembly) of the Hazara people, which he had the opportunity to witness. The Hazaras, numbering some four and a half million people, mainly inhabit the central region — of Afghanistan. ;' Robes and Rags **Some 900 delegates came to the Jir- gah in Kabul,’ he says. ‘““Some were dressed in robes, some in rags. Some arrived in sandals, some in posh Mer- cedes. There were tribal elders, religious leaders, scholars, village represen- tatives, eminent figures, and refugees. The entire politbureau of the PDPA was also there. Fifteen percent of the dele- gates were from armed anti-government groups. They all met and mingled to- gether in the auditorium in the Kabul polytechnic. “There was broad discussion, which took many surprising turns, concerning - Hazara grievances, the war, the many Hazara refugees who are living in Iran, and so on. In the end, the government conceded autonomy to the Hazara peo- ple, guaranteed their majority status, and allowed that Shi'ite law would apply in their areas (the majority of Afghans are Sunni Moslems, the Hazaras are Shi’ ite) in turn, the Jirgah decided that the Hazaras would consolidate and defend their own territory against the contras, and agreed to support the general goals of the revolution.”’ This is a process that is being repeated all over the country, at every level, with - whole tribes and regions being brought into the process of national recon- - ciliation inthe same fashion, Latif notes. “Only about 30 per cent of Afghan- istan’s population is in the cities,’’ he says. ‘‘Seventy per cent are in villages or are pastoral nomads. So far only one’ third of the villages are firmly under government control — which, with the cities, make up half the population — although this does not mean that the con- tras have them. Many are isolated or re- sist the influence of both. This is Afghan reality. ‘*Then there may be up to three million refugees outside of the country — al- though some proportion of these are nomads who are traditionally trans- PDPA leader Najib holding talks with the people of Balk region. border people. In the past six months an estimated 100,000 refugees have re- turned to join the ‘national reconcilia- tion’ process, (compared with 37,000 in the past six year). The government charges that many more wish to do so but are being restrained by the governments of Tran and Pakistan. Pakistan’s Role ‘*This is particularly true of the Pakis- tani government for whom the war in Afghanistan has been a bonanza in the form of U.S. political, financial and military aid. Afghan refugees in Pakistan are basically pawns, they are being held hostage to this aid. ‘‘T met personally with a half dozen or so refugees who have recently returned to Afghanistan. All of them said they had originally fled the country for one of three reasons: lack of employment, the war had touched their lives, or they felt their traditions and beliefs had been violated by the PDPA government. ‘* All of these meetings were extremely emotional.’ People expressed tremend- ous joy to be home, despite all the dif- ficulties. One old man told me that the moment he heard the rumor that ‘peace had been declared in Afghanistan’, he and his family began the long trek home from the squalid refugee camp in Iran where they had spent the last several years.” Latif also travelled outside of Kabul — in an unguarded car accompanied by PDPA members — and met with local militia and workers in the village of Chahar Afsab, some 25 miles from the capital. ‘*Here too I found a situation that was surprisingly stable,’’ says Latif. ‘‘The last armed incident in the area had taken place in April, 1985. The village militia consisted of 20 peasants, including five women, of whom only one was a PDPA member. They work in the fields, with guns on their backs, and their comman- der told me their purpose is to defend their village and the revolution’’. “Tt seems clear to me that the Afghan revolution is going through a very challenging and difficult transition. It is reaching out to the people, trying to find new forms and necessary compromises upon which to build a constructive peace,’ concludes Latif. ‘‘Of course I only saw a little, but Iam convinced that the ‘national reconciliation’ process is a genuine thing in Afghanistan, and that it is beginning to take hold. If the momen- tum continues, I think we will finally see peace come to Afghanistan in the near future.”’ Nicaragua’s Vice-President to visit Canada OTTAWA — Nicaraguan Vice- President Dr. Sergio Ramirez Mercado will pay an official visit to Canada for several days beginning Oct. 20 where he will outline the position of the San- dinista government toward the Central American peace plan signed recently in Guatemala City and the steps Nica- ragua is taking to implement it. While in Ottawa and Toronto, Dr. Ramirez will meet with officials from both the federal and Ontario govern- ments, opposition leaders, church and solidarity groups, as well as the media. Travelling to Canada with the Vice- President will be Dr. Alejandro Mar- tinez Cuenca, Minister of Foreign Trade, Dr. Xavier Chamorro, Deputy Minister of External Affairs and Mr. William Vigil, Director, Department ot North America. SERGIO RAMIREZ MERCADO _ Release Yanez Pinochet urged TORONTO — In a cable to Chileat dictator Pinochet, Oct. 2, the Commu nist Party of Canada urged the release of Alessandro Yanez, arrested recentl) in Santiago. Cables were also sent t¢ Prime Minister Mulroney as well as te Liberal leader Turner and NDP leade! Broadbent urging intervention with the Pinochet regime for Yanez’ freedom a: well as that of many other patriots jailec because of their advocacy of a return t¢ democracy in Chile. Mark 20 years _of occupation TEL AVIV — An Israeli Committe to commemorate 20 years of occupa tion-was established last spring to mat] three anniversaries: 20th anniversary 0 June, 1967 war, 5th anniversary of in vasion of Lebanon and 40th anniver sary of the UN resolution establishint the State of Israel. The group’s first action was to collec thousands of signatures on a petition “Put An End to Occupation!’’, whicl read in part: ‘20 years of occupation did not brini peace and security to Israel nor eliminaté the aspirations of the Palestinian people ! freedom and national independence. “Bloodshed and bereavement, racis? and religious fanaticism, unemploymen and poverty, budgets assigned to settle ments instead of slums — these are the fruits of the occupation. ..”’ : The petition urges the Israeli gov ernment to take part ina UN-sponsoré international peace conference © search for a just settlement of the Mid east crisis. a