• They will not allow this ridiculous vote rigging to be successful
• They will put Karzai into his place and subject him to the electoral law – to any law for that matter.
• They will not let someone who has no respect for anyone but himself and his bought cronies to play with everyone else
• They will not allow to let Afghanistan slide ever deeper into a crisis
• They will rescue the democratic process so as to give at least a bit of weight to the hollow institutions they installed
• They will rescue themselves

With “They” I mean the international community who has imposed their ways onto this country without much consideration of the circumstance they were meddling with. “They” are the ones who now have to take a stance and not become a culprit in this unprecedented, shameless and in-your-face election fraud.

If they have an ounce of integrity left – that is what they do. But do they?

An anniversary tribute of a different nature

I recently met a French diplomat who felt to comment on Amir Sahib in a pseudo-intellectual manner as follows: “He should continue to be an example for Afghans; he developed from an ignorant village boy into an influential personality”.

??? – I was proud of myself at that moment that I did not engage him in a fundamental argument over who Massoud actually was. But it made me realise once more where the problem lies when it comes to this great leader: as often with such personalities who did not think themselves important enough he did not write books of his ideas and ideals, he did not even appoint a successor as he hoped his struggle to be a temporary one and his leadership to be replaced within his lifetime by a democratically elected government of the whole of Afghanistan.

And now we have ended up with the situation in which only those who worked and lived with him still remember his true personality, his open and great mind and intellect, while all those who didn’t have this fortune put him into a drawer of their liking. And the spectrum is wide:

Some will put him in the drawer of “warlord who destroyed Kabul”, others into the drawer “our hero who ended the cold war”.

Very few nowadays still understand the great intellectual depth and humanity which he incorporated, the physical and mental strain he was in for more than 20 years, the political pulls and pushes he had to balance. But most of all most do not understand anymore his intentions for the whole of Afghanistan – far from being a ethnically motivated warlord. For example he used to say that ‘dividing Afghanistan into ethnic groups is as much of a sin as saying there is more than one God’. True - he himself adjusted his political goal posts and aspirations over the 25 years of his struggle, but always with Afghanistan as a whole at heart and never with narrow ideological or religious focus – whether in is younger or older days.

Already in his early school years in Kabul the teachers attested him with very high intelligence, he never coerced people into following his pious heart.Much rather people and his peers followed him in a very natural manner from youth onward.

So to call him a narrow-minded village boy who set out to defend his little fiefdom or to put him posthumously into any drawer does not do justice to this great mind and demonstrate clearly again that his legacy is at danger of being lost in the fading memory of people, in the abuse of his name for some people’s limited motives.

His values - more necessary in Afghanistan than ever before

Contrasting this we should recall now more than ever what he had in mind for Afghanistan and what he was denied realising.

• He envisioned a truly democratic country, the structures of which had to reflect the culture of the country and its inner workings.
• He advocated federalist structures so as to reflect the regional differences and diversity of Afghanistan and thereby still be able to integrate the country.
• He advocated a moderate Islam to govern Afghanistan but without suppressing other religious minorities or other trains of thought for that matter. Towards the end of his life he even tended towards advocating more secular structures as he had realised that religion in government could also lead to much strive.
• He advocated equal rights for men and women, he encouraged female education and their ability to pursue a carrier outside the home but in public life just like men.
• Generally he was a strong supporter of education as he himself furthered his knowledge throughout his life – whether it was the arts or the sciences. He incorporated talent for both and he tried to instill the thirst for knowledge in both his children and his followers.
• he advocated independence from outside forces. And while he always sought the cooperation of foreign countries in his struggles he always sought the political independence and neutrality of Afghanistan.

All the above now seem to become an alternative to the way things have been handled so far in Afghan politics. With the failure of the current political rulers clearly before us we need to re-think the political and government concepts with which we are approaching the revival and development of this country.

We need to design structures which reflect the current development and education level of this country so as to strengthen governance and rule of law. The moderates in society and politics need to be supported and radicals cut down with decisive force. Massoud should not have died in vain while fighting those evils which are no threatening to engulf this country again. He was a shining light in the darkness spread by these ideologies – and this light must brighten up the whole of Afghanistan – if necessary with strong handed support. But this strong hand is only just that – a support – a support which assists good governance and rule of law. But by itself the strong hand is nothing.

An attempt to preserve his memory

With this in mind we need to preserve for future generations who Amir Sahib was at heart. For this purpose please donate generously to the Ahmad Shah Massoud Library Association. We want to build a Library Centre in each large Afghan city in Massoud’s honour, with the purpose to carry forward his “heart” and his beautiful mind – his democratic values, his cultural appreciation, his views on women’s rights and his educational emphasis.

Our plans, funding and contact details can be reviewed at: www.massoudlibrary.org  We are an Afghan-international effort in the honour of Ahmad Shah Massoud.