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Afghan Council to Host Religious Conference to Promote Peace

by Mohammad Habibzada

   Focusing on Pakistani hardline religious scholars, Afghanistan is in
   the process of convening an international religious conference in a bid
   to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in the county, the Afghan
   High Peace Council (HPC) said.

   The HPC told VOA it is very important that Pakistani scholars, who
   believe the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan is legitimate,
   participate in the "Grand Religious Conference."

   "We are hoping that those Pakistani religious scholars like Maulana
   Fazal-ur-Rehman and Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, who see the war in Afghanistan
   as legitimate jihad, would participate in the conference," Sayed Ehsan
   Taheri, Afghan High Peace Council spokesperson, told VOA.

   Rehman, who is also a member of country's National Assembly, linked the
   Afghan Taliban's insurgency to the presence of U.S. and NATO forces in
   Afghanistan, in an effort to justify the Taliban's continued violence
   in the country.

   His Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam religious party is also accused of maintaining
   links with various militant groups.

   Similarly, Haq, who is also known as "Father of the Taliban," openly
   backs the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

   "Give them just one year, and they will make the whole of Afghanistan
   happy," Haq said in a 2013 interview with Reuters.

   It is believed that Taliban movement was initiated in Darul Uloom
   Haqqnia, a Pakistani religious school run by Maulana Sami-ul- Haq.

   The international religious conference would give the Islamic religious
   clerics the chance to find common ground in terms of war and peace in
   Afghanistan.

   "Counterterrorism in the region and Afghanistan, and peace and war in
   Afghanistan, would be the main topics of discussion, based on Islamic
   principles," Taheri said. "It is not clear yet where the conference
   will be held."

   The Afghan peace council has doubled its efforts to earn Islamic
   countries' votes to convince the Taliban and its supporters to end the
   war in Afghanistan after Afghan president Mohammad Ashraf Ghani offered
   unconditional peace talks to the insurgents.

   Expert opinion

   Experts are not divided over whether religious scholars can play a
   constructive role.

   "The so-called religious scholars of Islamic states have no authority,
   including Pakistan. Even if they do participate in such conferences,
   they will only follow the government's policies," Osman Kakar, a
   Pakistani politician and Afghanistan expert told VOA. "This problem
   will persist until countries stop intervention in Afghanistan," he
   said.

   Mohammad Rasool Taheri, a U.S.-based religious scholar, agrees that the
   Afghan war and peace issue cannot be solved by religious scholars. "I
   don't think religious scholars can do anything in terms of bringing
   peace or ending the war in Afghanistan," he added.

   Waheed Muzhda, a former member of the insurgent group, said the issue
   of peace and war in Afghanistan cannot be solved, even by the Afghans,
   and requires a broader international platform.

   "This problem [war and peace in Afghanistan] cannot be solved in
   Afghanistan until the world powers [involved in Afghanistan] solve
   their differences on the international level," Muzhda told VOA.

   Indonesia peace conference

   Jakarta is preparing to host a trilateral conference, where religious
   scholars from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia would try to end more
   than 16 years of war in Afghanistan.

   The Afghan High Peace Council said Indonesia and Afghanistan were ready
   to hold the conference and were waiting for Pakistan to confirm its
   participation.

   The Afghan Taliban has urged scholars to boycott the conference.

   On Saturday, during an opening ceremony of voter registration for the
   upcoming parliamentary election, Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani
   once again called on the Taliban to join the political arena and
   participate in the election.

   "President Ghani asked the Taliban to act as a political party and
   participate in the elections, while utilizing the prevailing
   opportunity and the peace offer," an Afghan presidential palace
   statement states.

   Pressure on Taliban

   Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan,
   said last month in Kabul that a religious, diplomatic, military and
   social approach would be utilized to put pressure on the Taliban.

   "There will be religious pressure applied to the Taliban with the
   ulemas (Islamic scholars) hosted in Indonesia and elsewhere to strip
   away the religious legitimacy for jihad in Afghanistan," he told
   reporters in the capital city, Kabul.

   Nicholson called the parliamentary election a tool that would socially
   pressure the Taliban when Afghans vote for leaders later this year.

   The Afghan government and the U.S.-led Resolute Support Mission insist
   the Taliban will never achieve a victory on the battlefield. "So this
   really is probably their best time to attempt a negotiation, because
   it's only going to get worse for them," Nicholson added.

   The Taliban has yet to respond to the Afghan peace offer.

   While the peace offer is still on the table, the Afghan government and
   its international allies continue to target the Taliban, as the
   insurgents carry out attacks all over the country.