26 agosto 2021

UPF - Ambassador for Peace Hold A CONFERENCE FOCUS ON AFGHANISTAN

On these days since the Taliban’s rise to power many news regarding the tragic situation in Afghanistan are spreading, and cannot fail to impress international community in this time of fear and uncertainty. Prof. Emilio Asti*, an expert in Oriental cultures who visited Afghanistan 20 years ago, writing several articles and essays about it, decided to organize a Conference focused on the Afghan current situation. The Conference was held on August 21 at Casa Alpina De Filippi, a hotel in Macugnaga that has been the venue of various cultural activities, with the participation via google meet of Prof. Marco Lombardi (UPF AfP), Director of the Sociology Department at Catholic University in Milano and of three Afghan: Hamad Tariq Noorzadeh, diplomat at the Afghan Embassy in Turkmenistan, Said Hamed Wahdat, former diplomat in Sweden and Selab Lahou, political analyst of Afghan issues.

Their interventions analysed the present situation of Afghanistan, a country that since long suffered immensely, providing the audience with new information on this issue.

After the introductory speech of Prof. Rev. Gianluigi Panzeri, Director of the Casa Alpina, presenting the speakers and expressing the wish that the Conference would result useful to get new perspectives on the Afghan situation, the Conference started with the speech of Prof. Asti. He explained the Taliban’s vision and their goal to rule the country according to Sharya Islamic law, as he could observe during his visit to Afghanistan at the time of the Talibans regime under the rule of Mullah Omar.

Prof. Lombardi has been many times to Afghanistan cooperating with the Italian government and organizing courses of journalism for the Afghan students, as Ambassador for Peace of UPF he was officially invited to 2020 World Summit in Seoul where he could share his vision and experience as academician and director of various international projects of cooperation. He reported about his long experience as professor in Afghanistan, explaining the different aspects of the Afghanistan situation to make the audience understand the dangers that now occur due to the withdrawal of the Western Forces, as Talibans already announced their intention to rule the country within the framework of strict Islamic law.

The three Afghan participants in their interventions, aimed at providing the audience with a clear picture of the Afghan situation, coincided, even though in different ways, that the conflictive situation in Afghanistan is fuelled by some forces outside the country that have been creating confusion and fostering domestic struggles. Without considering this fact it isn’t possible to correctly understand Afghanistan, that since long has been a battlefield for the great powers, reminding the audience some important historical facts. The Afghanistan’s strategic location proves it to be a crucial setting for region trade and transit, but decades of violence and instability have turned this country in a serious threat to regional stability, as cannot be ignored that insecurity in Afghanistan will lead to regional turmoil. All of them expressed disappointment over U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying that Afghan people’s fervent desire long for peace and welfare, but not according to Western style. In their opinion the USA and the Western countries which were taking part in the military operation and in the reconstruction plans didn’t understand the character of Afghan people and they failed in the attempt to establish in this country a kind of democracy. The Afghan speakers agreed on calling on the European Union to launch a massive effort for granting humanitarian relief to what turned into a humanitarian tragedy with many Afghans trying to escape from their country seeking for a safe asylum in Europe, despite the first conciliatory declarations from the part of the Taliban leadership.

What most impressed the audience was the sudden victory of the Talibans and their capacity to take over the country in a short period of time and without meeting any kind of resistance, something unexpected.

Prof. Asti, who is willing to continue to organize further cultural events dedicated to Afghanistan, was requested by Macugnaga’s municipality to give another public lecture on Afghanistan the coming Sunday August 29 to allow more people to be informed about this topic of great interest.


·   Emilio Asti, an Italian professor expert in Oriental cultures, Ambassador for Peace of UPF, has visited Afghanistan and its neighbouring countries several times, writing articles and essays, organizing Conferences and public lectures aimed at making known the geopolitical and social issues within that region.

 

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