NEW DELHI: Amidst the cacophony of threats and war with Pakistan, the Indian media and the ruling dispensation did not react to an extremely significant development in the region. The old “butcher of Kabul” Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, known for his hard anti-India stance, was placed back on centre stage after a long while in exile, through a peace deal brokered by the Kabul-Washington-Islamabad troika.

This move, welcomed by the US almost immediately, will distance New Delhi from Kabul as Hekmatyar appears to have been given the role of a lynchpin of sorts to prepare Afghanistan for the final exit of US troops. It also sends out a clear signal that despite the diplomacy, a safe pull out from Afghanistan remains a top US priority. And that Washington is clearly working closely with Islamabad on the strategic moves to ensure this.

Hemkatyar was a recipient of western arms and aid to counter the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan, and went on to briefly become the Prime Minister of Afghanistan. The advent of the Taliban sent him into exile in Tehran, but his links with the western capitals of the world are reportedy intact according to The Newls, Pakistan and he has thus, the support of all in what is going to be a significant new avatar as well as a home coming for him. Iran given the links with Hekmatyar is also supportive of this agreement.

His political party Hezb-e-Islami, Islamist radical, is being revived now as per the new peace deal inked between Hekmatyar and the Afghan government. The political group was in disarray following war crime cases against the leader and many of his fighters. These cases, under the draft agreement, are now to be withdrawn, with full amnesty being given to the commanders and members of the party credited with the slaughtering of at least 50,000 Afghans, to come back, contest elections and enter politics.

Hekmatyar was perceived by the world as ruthless, with a strong personality, who did not hesitate to sell his services to the highest bidder. His links with external intelligence agencies crowding Afghanistan during the decades were almost legendary, and have clearly allowed the Afghan war lord to emerge from exile as a central figure, in position if the peace deal works out, to guide the transition. Many had written him off, including India and his re-emergence guarded by Turkish soldiers has certainly been a negative development for India.

Interestingly Hekmatyar remains a terrorist on the US list of most wanted. He is similarly designated in the United Nations as well. However, the US has welcomed the peace deal reinstating the ‘butcher of Kabul’, being amongst the first to applaud the Afghan government for taking this step to “restore peace and stability” in Afghanistan. Hekmatyar, as was pointed out above, was a US favourite when it came to fighting the Soviet invasion and was well financed and armed at that time. As was al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden who later was hunted down by the US and killed in Abbotabad, Pakistan.

Under the draft agreement now, the Afghan government, will move to take Hekmatyar off the US terrorist list. "This is not just a peace deal between Hezb-i-Islami and the government of Afghanistan," Mohammad Amin Karim, head of the group's delegation, said. “It is a beginning of a new era of peace all around the country," Karim said, according to the AFP news agency. The agreement will come into force when it is formally signed by Ghani and Hekmatyar, the government said, though no date has been set as yet.

There are no indications of any shift in Hekmatyar’s policy towards India. He has always been openly hostile with reports in sections of the media six years ago maintaining that he was in touch with Pakistan’s ISI to plan a hit on Indian interests in Afghanistan. These reports were not independently confirmed but underlined Hekmatyar’s open hostility towards India at the time.

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Seema Mustafa

    Seema Mustafa is the Editor-in-Chief of The Citizen