The Indonesian government has been urged to press on with its trilateral forum of clerics from Indonesia, Afghanistan and Pakistan in its efforts to help achieve peace in Afghanistan, despite the Taliban’s call to boycott the event.
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In this Nov. 3, 2015 file photo, Afghan Taliban fighters listen to Mullah Mohammed Rasool, the newly-elected leader of a breakaway faction of the Taliban, in Farah province, Afghanistan.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The Indonesian government has been urged to press on with its trilateral forum of clerics from Indonesia, Afghanistan and Pakistan in its efforts to help achieve peace in Afghanistan, despite the Taliban’s call to boycott the event. The boycott call must be responded to proportionately.
This was said by Abdul Mu’ti the secretary general of Indonesia’s second-largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, in a phone interview on Sunday (11/3/2018). The Taliban said in a press statement on Saturday that clerics should not participate in the trilateral forum in Indonesia.
In the statement the Taliban criticized the conference, which will be attended by clerics from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia, as an attempt “to legitimize the presence of infidel colonizers in the Islamic state of Afghanistan”.
Mu’ti said the statement must be responded to proportionately and should not delay the trilateral forum plan in Jakarta. “The initiative to provide a solution for the problem in Afghanistan is good and in line with Indonesia’s mission of actively pushing for peace. However, the Indonesian government must remain realistic,” he said.
Mu’ti went on to say the problem in Afghanistan was highly complex. Splintered factions are fighting one another and the Taliban has a huge transnational network. Any decision made, Mu’ti said, might affect certain countries.
Executive of Indonesia’s largest Muslim mass organization Nahdlatul Ulama, Robikin Emhas, shared Abdul’s opinion. He said he remained hopeful that all relevant parties would be present at the forum, stressing that coordination between parties was highly important.
“There must be efforts to ensure that all parties will be present as this peace is necessary. All moves and processes must be highly coordinated,” Robikin said.
Last week, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the trilateral forum of clerics from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia would be held in late March. Kalla said he hoped the forum would produce an agreement or fatwa to achieve peace and end the 40-year conflict in Afghanistan.
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has been appointed as the forum organizer. The trilateral forum will be a follow-up to the Second Kabul Peace Conference, held on February 28 and attended by Kalla and a number of high-ranking Indonesian officials. At the trilateral forum, each of the three countries are expected to be represented by 15 clerics.
On Sunday, a diplomatic source in Jakarta revealed that the foreign ministries of Indonesia, Afghanistan and Pakistan had coordinated with one another for the trilateral forum.
Taliban’s rejection
However, on Saturday, the Taliban said it would reject the conference. The group’s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, said Afghanistan’s problem was not only complex but also a major issue for the Islamic community.
“The militant movement came up with a proper system for the country but the United States destroyed it. By giving legitimacy to the government in Kabul and through propaganda, the US wishes to deceive Muslim countries. The meetings of clerics in Indonesia or in several other Islamic countries are misguided moves,” Zabihullah said.
The Taliban urged Islamic countries not to support or participate in such conferences. The Taliban said the proposal for a conference involving clerics from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia was aimed only at “legitimizing the presence of infidel colonizers in the Islamic state of Afghanistan”.
“Do not give an opportunity to infidels attacking Afghanistan to use your name and participation in the conference as a way to achieve their evil goals,” the Taliban’s statement said.
Thus far, the Taliban has only been willing to negotiate with the US government. The US, however, has never agreed to negotiate and urges the Taliban to accept Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s peace offer. In the Second Kabul Peace Conference, Ghani offered the Taliban an opportunity to be recognized as a political party and join in the Afghan government.
Western diplomats said there had been efforts behind the scenes to place foundations for possible future peace talks in Afghanistan through regular contact via middlemen.
At the same time, the US is increasing its pressure through battles, especially through air attacks on the Taliban. Afghanistan’s international partners are working together to build diplomatic support to push the Taliban to peace talks.
