Dr. Qayoumi blames Pakistan for Taliban

In a presentation at CSUS on October 28, 2010, Dr. Mohammad H. Qayoumi blamed Pakistan for sending over the Taliban and creating a religious fundamentalist society in Afghanistan. Qayoumi is the president of CSU-East Bay and has been back to Afghanistan since the ousting of the Taliban in 2001. He presented on the challenges that Afghanistan faces in the future with its economy. Qayoumi outlined a plan where Afghanistan can overcome its current corrupted government and start the road to recovery. However, he painted a very biased and offensive picture of how Afghanistan's destruction is the direct result of its neighboring countries. "The Taliban closed all the schools for women," he said. Although the west has donated a lot of money to rebuild these schools, it isn't enough he said. Qayoumi said that religion has always played a role in Afghanistan, but fundamentalism has not. "Pakistan brought in the Taliban," he exclaimed. I was completely shocked at his declaration. Later he gave more clarification to this opinion (and yes, this is his opinion, no facts were presented to support this). He said that Pakistan needed Afghanistan because the country is always at odds with neighboring India.

Qayoumi himself contradicted this idea by saying, "Afghanistan has been bringing in masons, carpenters and engineers from Pakistan for rebuilding the country." Why do they need to do that if Pakistan has an interest in destroying Afghanistan with religious fundamentalism.

Also, Pakistan closed their borders to Afghanistan in 1950. Taliban began its rule in the country in 1996. Again, the facts do not corroborate Qayoumi's opinion.

Pakistan's hatred of India has it scrambling for allies he explained. I thought this was completely absurd, given that Afghanistan does not have an established military, but has made do with guerrilla fighters all these years. Taliban, in essence, is these very fighters who have become fundamentalists in recent times. Specifically, the rise of the Islamic state in Afghanistan was inevitable given that all other governments had failed in the country. Let's not forget that the Taliban originated from "Pashtunistan," or the land of the Pashtuns. These were people that were in the northern part of the country and also spilled into Pakistan. After the cold war, the Pashtuns became the major ethnic group in Afghanistan. The Pashtuns in Afghanistan collaborated with those in Pakistan to try and free themselves from both countries. The result was sour relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The rise of the Taliban was fully supported by the local population of Afghanistan. They offered an alternative to the corrupt Mujaheddin system. People saw the Taliban's system as one based on Islamic values and moral standards. Why would they not have accepted it? But, unfortunately, like a dictator who cannot be stopped, the system went haywire - trapping the innocent Afghani population in an extremist religious ideology. Business Administration student Zeeshan Ayub said "I didn't like that he was blaming Pakistan for the Taliban." He said that both countries have a problem with terrorists. It was wrong for him to declare his bias in a room full of multi-ethnic students that included Pakistanis. "Its not written on their face of who is Taliban and who is an ordinary citizen in either country," Ayub said. Qayoumi is skeptical of progress made in Afghanistan while Karzai is president. He said that it has become evident that Karzai is corrupt. One can only hope that a new leader will rise in a country so ravaged by turmoil. One that is truly for the people.