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Turning the tide against militants

This is remarkable, considering the spurt of violence in recent months. "We want to vote. We are hungry," they said in one voice. This collective, united stand that the Afghan people have taken is something of a new experiment for us and for the world at large. It is, therefore, necessary for the Hamid Karzai government to hold the presidential elections on October 9, and the parliamentary polls in April. There can be no further delay, as already, the elections were well overdue. It has already been postponed by three months, which is bad enough. Any kind of further postponement will only serve to send a bad signal to donor nations who will not make any more donations unless elections are held on schedule, as promised. As we had said a few days ago, warlords are an obstacle, and the allied forces stationed in the country to ensure peace must act and rectify the situation.

They should go about dismantling the network of all warlords - and not just go after one particular warlord, leaving out all the others. The network of all warlords operating in Afghanistan should immediately be broken up and dismantled. Not one single warlord should remain and be allowed to operate the way they used to. We are in the 21st century, and there is no place for the likes of warlords and dacoits and others of their kind in this century. There's no denying that there are warlords in Afghanistan even today - only the Taleban have been dismantled. But just as the Taleban have been dismantled, so too should the others operating in the country, as there are enough warlords provoking ordinary Afghans to do their bidding for their own selfish reasons and goals.