In Depth - Afghanistan - 100 Years of Independence

Introduction

August 19, 2019 marked the 100th Independence Day for Afghanistan. On this day in 1919, Afghanistan gained its independence from Britain after the signing of the Anglo-Afghan Treaty which granted complete neutral relations between Afghanistan and Britain. For several weeks, the Afghan cities had been preparing to celebrate the 100th independence anniversary. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also extended greetings to the Afghans while delivering his Independence Day speech on August 15th. But the sense of joy turned into grief when a series of explosions shook the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, wounding dozens of people including children. According to latest reports, as many as 10 blasts were reported in and around the city in Nangarhar province, and casualty numbers appeared to be rising. Earlier, on Saturday, a terror attack on a wedding party in Kabul killed more than 60, and injured nearly 200.

Wars with British Empire:

1747:Ahmad Shah Durrani unified Pashtun tribes.

Afghanistan was not fully integrated colony of British Empire.

1919:Afghanistan’s War of Independence.

First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-1842):

The First Anglo-Afghan War (also known by the British as the Disaster in Afghanistan) was fought between the British East India Company and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842. Initially, the British successfully intervened in a succession dispute between emir Dost Mohammad (Barakzai) and former emir Shah Shujah (Durrani), whom they installed upon conquering Kabul in August 1839. The main British Indian and Sikh force occupying Kabul along with their camp followers, having endured harsh winters as well, was almost completely annihilated while retreating in January 1842. The British then sent an Army of Retribution to Kabul to avenge their defeat, and having demolished parts of the capital and recovered prisoners they left Afghanistan altogether by the end of the year.

Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1870):

In November 1875 British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli appointed Lord Lytton governor-general of India. Lytton during his service there was concerned primarily with India’s relations with Afghanistan. At the time of his appointment, Russian influence was

growing in Afghanistan, and Lytton had orders to counteract it or to secure a strong frontier by force. In the winter of 1878, the affairs of Afghanistan again forced themselves into notice. The First Anglo Afghan war had ended in 1842, in a humiliation for the British and this failure kept haunting them for many years.

Treaty of Peshawar:

In 1855 Treaty of Peshawar between Dost Mohammad and British reopened the diplomatic relations. After a series of incidents, Russia established a fixed boundary between Afghanistan and its territories in 1873. But within a period of 5 years the rivalry turned back. This was because of an uninvited diplomatic mission sent by the Russians to Kabul. The ruler Sher Ali Khan, son of Dost Mohammad Khan wanted to stop them, but failed. The British too wanted to send a mission, but Sher Ali refused. A diplomatic mission was ordered by Lord Lytton, the viceroy of British India, and the Mission was turned back. This triggered the Second Anglo Afghan War.

Treaty of Gandamak:

In the second Anglo Afghan war, much of Afghanistan was occupied by British. Sher Ali was defeated and he fled towards Turkistan. Sher Ali’s Son, Mohammad Yaqub Khan signed a treaty of Gandamak in May, 1879 to prevent British Invasion in rest of the country. However, he paid the price by relinquishing the Control of Afghan Foreign Relations to British. British Control was thus extended to much of the country. He also agreed to receive a British Resident at Kabul. The treaty of Gandamak was signed in May, 1879, but in the same year in September, the British Resident Major Cavagnari was murdered. This again triggered the war and Kabul was occupied. Yakub Khan surrendered and he was sent to Dehradun as a Prisoner.

Third Anglo-Afghan War(May 1919-june 1919):

 The First World War and the Russian Revolution of 1917 created a new situation in Anglo-Afghan relations.  The war gave rise to strong anti-British feeling in Muslim countries, and the Russian Revolution inspired new anti-imperialist sentiments in Afghanistan as, in fact, all over the world.  The disappearance of Imperial Russia, moreover, removed the perpetual fear of aggression from the northern neighbor, which had compelled successive Afghan rulers to look to the British for support.  The Afghans now demanded full Independence from British control.

 Habibullah, who had succeeded Abdul Rahman in 1901 as Amir, was assassinated on 20 February 1919 and his son Amanullah, the new Amir, declared open war on British India.  Peace came in 1921 by a treaty, Afghanistan recovered its independence in foreign affairs.

Taliban to power: Even though the Mujahadeen government came into power by the backing of US-Pakistan, the government comprised of different warlords. This lead to the power struggle between them and there was a law & order crisis.

Moreover, the then president, Najibullah, become pro-India.

This lead to the promotion of Taliban by Pakistan.

WHO ARE THE TALIBAN?

 Taliban means students.  They are refugees of Afghan civil war and are located in NWFP in Pakistan.  They were educated in Madrasas financed by Saudi Arabia and indoctrinated with Wahabism-Salafism.  Wahabism is a puritan movement in Islam who wants Shariat rule.  After fall of Mujahadeen government, India together with the international community supported the coalition government that took control, but relations and contacts ended with the outbreak of another civil war, which brought to power the Taliban. The Taliban regime was recognized only by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha monuments by the Taliban led to outrage and angry protests by India. In 1999, the hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 landed and stayed in Kandahar in Afghanistan and the Taliban were suspected of supporting them. India became one of the key supporters of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.

India Policy on Afghanistan:

 Afghan is India’s natural partner, not just to balance Pakistan but also for the fulfilment of energy-economic interest.  Indian policy in Afghan can be described as the dichotomy between its aspiration for a larger role in its north western neighbourhood and the real constraints on it.  In 2011 India became the first country Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership agreement. Until then India was following US demand of India’s limited cooperation with Afghan.  India has repeatedly stressed that its relationship with Afghan is independent of Pakistan.  India argues that the tripartite relationship between India, Pakistan, and Afghan are mutually independent:  In both the 1965 and 1971 wars, Afghanistan was non-committal and did not support India.  On the Kashmir issue, Afghanistan has not publicly supported India  India has not entered the debate on the Durand Line.  In 2018, in a first major offensive military platform to Kabul, India gifted a Mi 25 attack helicopter.  The delivery marks the first time India has gifted offensive combat capability to Afghanistan, a sensitive topic in the past due to strong objections by Pakistan.  Under the agreement, India will also train Afghan defence personnel on operations.